Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses
by zElliexmagic
Summary: When Princess Lucille Heartfilia feels trapped in her castle and Fire Dragon Slayer Natsu Dragneel is a member of the most famous dragon hunting guild in Fiore, how will their paths cross, especially with Ivan's mysterious plan is finally coming to the surface? Mainly NaLu, but also GaLe and Gruvia (Jerza will be in the sequel)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all! This is the first chapter of "Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses". I change my mind about doing only one-shots on FanFiction and I've decided to do my first series. Woah! I'm excited…and a little nervous…I hope you like the first chapter and hopefully this project won't be a failure.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 1)

Lucy laughed as Plue, who was dancing for her, fell on his face. She helped him back onto his feet and lay back against her king-sized bed. Plue continued to dance and fall and Lucy continued to applause and laugh. It was in these rare moments that she had peace like this, hanging out with one of her spirits.

There was a knock on her large door and Lucy silently prayed it wasn't who she thought it was. She stopped laughing and Plue stopped dancing as Lucy crawled off her bed and picked up the snowman-like spirit. She breathed a sigh in relief when she opened the door.

"Oh, it's you."

Levy smiled at her, "You thought I was Ivan?"

Lucy nodded at her best friend, "Yeah, thank goodness it was you. I don't think I can handle any more of him."

"Well, today is his day off. I'm guessing you forgot."

"Oh! I did!" Lucy laughed at her stupidity, "I should've known."

Levy smiled, "Well, why don't we fix that brain of yours. We've got to get studying. You know how your parents get when you're falling behind on a subject."

Lucy nodded again, "Yeah, I know. I'm coming, just let me change real quick and I'll meet you in the library."

"Alright, sounds good. See ya there, Lu."

Lucy shut her door and sent Plue back to the spirit realm. It's kinda funny how her teacher ended up being someone her age. Lucy remembers how her parents told her that they hired a blunette from Acalypha and said she was one of the smartest people in the country. Lucy had been failing every subject and was getting tired of new teachers coming in and bossing her around. She was even more upset when she met Levy: they're the same age and Lucy might even be a little older. She didn't want to be taught by someone younger than her, but after a few lessons, they bonded as best friends. Lucy's parents were very happy when their daughter's grades went up. Lucy loved to hang out with Levy, even if it was hitting the books.

Lucy opened her large door again, dressed in a short skirt, a tank-top, boots, and her whip and celestial keys on her belt. With her hair in a side ponytail, she made her way to the library where Levy was waiting. On her way, she passed the training grounds where all the castle's knights were training against each other, against a dummy, or being given lessons by the red-headed commander of the army.

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your sword up?!" The red-head shouted, "Remember, you have to step to the side when your opponent steps…"

Lucy giggled as the female commander lectured the poor knights. She lifted her hand high in the air and shouted, "Erza!"

The commander turned to her and smiled, "Hi Lucy!" She waved back.

Erza was found by Lucy's parents in a town called Magnolia, which apparently is a pretty popular town now-a-days. She remembers hearing from her father that men all over Magnolia were being defeated by a woman in armor. Lucy's father invited her to the Crocus where he, along with Lucy and Levy, witnessed the strongest of their knights get single handedly defeated. There was even a fight with ten of their knights at once against Erza with no weapons given to her and she won! What impressed Lucy the most was that Erza is a wizard, like Lucy and Levy.

Even though the only friends Lucy has ever had was Levy and Erza, Lucy _desperately_ wanted to get out of the castle – no, to get out of Crocus! She was a princess who was supposed marry a prince and take the throne, but that's not who she wanted to be. She wanted to be an adventurer. She wanted to travel the world and meet new people. She wanted to join one of those dragon hunting guilds and hunt dragons with friends she held close to her heart.

But she was different…she was the Princess of Fiore…and that was never going to change.

There had been many times that Lucy has packed her bags with the window open; there had been many chances of running away, even Lucy has said to herself that she'll do it, but she always chickens out at the last minute. Lucy was in a cage and she knew it. That little voice inside of her head whispered to her, telling her that it was hopeless. Even if she did run, even if she did end up joining one of the guilds, she was still a princess. The king and queen would eventually find her and bring her back.

Lucy was trapped in her manipulated life: people telling her what to, how to do it, and how she'd live her life. If she didn't listen, she was lectured – sometimes punished – like a child.

There was no way out of this cage…

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"You're Majesty, I have a suspicion about Her Highness, Princess Lucille."

King Jude raised his eyebrow at his advisor and asked, "What is wrong with my daughter? Is she behind on her grades again?"

Advisor Ivan, who was politely bowing, shook his head, "No, You're Majesty, it is of a different matter I speak of. The Princess' reputation decreases everyday. I'm afraid her rowdiness, cocky attitude, and choice of clothing are finally making itself known to the People of Fiore. With your approval, I would like to teach her to dress and act like a proper princess."

King Jude looked from his advisor, to his wife, who sat at desk near them, going through taxes. They stared at each other, seeming to communicate though their eyes.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.*flashback*.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Mom! Dad!" Lucy ran up to them in the gardens. The queen and king were taking a peaceful troll before their daughter ran up to them in tears.

"Lucy, what's the matter?" Queen Layla asked, hugging her daughter close to her.

"Fire Advisor Ivan!"

Jude and Layla were taken aback by her sudden request. The queen pulled back and wiped her daughter's tears away. "What do you mean?"

"I can't stand it anymore! Ivan bosses me around and acts like he runs my life! I tried to tell him no, but he wouldn't listen! All he's doing is manipulating me to do what he wants me to do! I can't take it!"

"Now Lucy," The king spoke softly as he ran his fingers through his daughter's blonde hair, "Ivan is a great advisor-"

"No, he's not! Can't you see he's just manipulating you?! He doesn't give me any freedom!"

"Sweetie, you have freedom," Layla smiled kindly, "You get to wear whatever you like…and you're even allowed to be a wizard just like me."

"It's not enough! That's all the freedom I have, Mom! I can't do anything besides that! It's just, studies and more studies on how to rule Fiore! I can't go travel or do anything!"

"Sweetheart," Jude hugged his daughter, "I won't fire Ivan. I know he may look like he's controlling you, but he's actually a very good advisor and want what's best for the kingdom just like we do. How about I cut your studies down a bit and let you take a walk around Crocus, visit stores and stuff. How does that sound?"

Lucy's tears didn't stop and that wasn't the last time she's come crying to them.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.*end of flashback*.-.-.-.-.-.

King Jude turned away from his wife and looked to his advisor, Ivan, who was still respectfully bowing, waiting for his answer: "no."

Advisor Ivan, surprised, stood up without the king's consent, but it was pushed aside. "No? You're Majesty, don't you want your daughter to be-"

"My answer is no," Jude repeated. "I will not take away what little freedom my daughter has away from her."

"But Your Majesty-"

"I've already given you my answer, Ivan! I expect you to respect it!"

Ivan, angered by the fact that the king didn't do what he wanted him to do, marched out of the king and queen's office, again, without the king's consent.

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 **Well? What do you think? Are you interested? I'm pretty excited to keep writing! I hope you are excited to find out what happens next! I'll write the next part as soon as possible!**

 **-zEllie**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! I'm back with the second chapter! Yea! *applause*. I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 2)

"Left, right, step; left, right, step," Lucy muttered to herself, breathing lightly. "Left, right, step; left, right-ow!"

Lucy dropped her sword and stepped away from it before it hit her foot.

"Are you alright, Lucy? I didn't mean to hit your hand," Erza stepped forward to see a little bit of blood on Lucy's hand, but the princess shrugged it off.

"I'm fine," She picked up her sword again. "Erza, when I asked you to train me in hand-to-hand combat, I didn't think you were doing to teach me how to sword fight."

Lucy is skilled in her celestial magic and her whip, but other than that, she knows nothing about fighting. She doesn't know the first thing about punching someone. Sure, she knows that you ball your fist and swing, but where are the weak spots on the opponent? Where do you hit? She had the same problem when it came to kicking.

"Sword fighting is hand-to-hand combat, Lucy. It's just a different style. I was planning on teaching you all the different styles and I started with this one."

Lucy thought for a moment before nodding at the red head, "your right. Besides, the more the merrier."

Erza smiled, "Alright, let's practice more before Advisor Ivan comes and sees this. He won't be happy."

Lucy nodded before swinging left and right and then stepping forward as Erza stepped back. "Left, right, step; left, right, step…"

Erza was right: If Ivan happened to see her sword fighting with the captain of the king's knights, he'll be furious. He'll say, "Lucille is a princess, Captain Erza. Princesses do not fight." Lucy would want to shout back saying, "Oh yeah?! Well this one does!" and maybe even take a few swings at him, but that won't solve any of her problems. She'll probably be grounded and lose some – if not all – of the little freedom she has.

"Lucy."

Lucy gasped when the sword flung out of her hand when it met Erza's. "Sorry, Erza, I dozed off."

"Its fine, we've been at it for a couple of hours anyway. Don't do that in a real fight."

"I won't."

"Alright then, I have to get back to the barracks."

"Are you leaving again?" Lucy pouted.

"Well, yes," Erza smiled at her friend as she put the two swords away. "I have friends in Magnolia that miss me when I'm gone too."

"But didn't you visit them last week?"

"That was three months ago. I already got the king's consent. I'm leaving tomorrow."

Lucy made a puppy dog face, but knew full well that it wouldn't work on the tough-as-nails Erza. "I always miss you when you take a week off. It seemed like yesterday when you left last time."

"I know, but I'll come back."

Lucy sighed, "Well, Levy and I will miss you. I hope you have a fun time with your friends."

"I hope you get a little more freedom."

Lucy huffed and rolled her eyes, "I highly doubt it, but thanks."

Erza frowned at her friend, "At least _try_ to get some freedom."

"I have been trying! You know Ivan; he's too much of a control freak to give me anything at all! It's weird too. He's an advisor. Advisors are supposed to advise my mom and dad, not control them!"

"Well, he has the king and queen on a tight lease," Erza set her hand on Lucy's shoulder. "I'm sure one day, they'll realize, but right now you'll have to endure it."

"I've been enduring it for my entire life!"

"I know, Lucy, trust me…I know. Levy and I are here to support you…well, I have to get going."

"Alright, bye Erza…and thanks."

Erza waved goodbye to Lucy and disappeared around the corner. " _Poor Lucy. I wish some kinda adventure would happen for her sake…_ "

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"What?! You've been teaching her history on the dragon hunting guilds?!"

It took all of Levy's will not to roll her eyes at Ivan. She was in the library happily reading a romance novel she and Lucy have been into lately before he stormed in and threw questions concerning Lucy's studies at her.

"Yes, I have," She replied.

"You're supposed to teach her history on how Fiore came into existence! Not about those reckless guilds!" Ivan threw the history book at her. Luckily, Levy caught it right before it hit her face. She set it gently on the table she was sitting at alongside her romance novel, trying her very hardest not to get angry.

"His Majesty, the king, told me to teach her history. He said I could teach her any kind of history as long as it was something. His Highness didn't say I _had_ to teach her the history of Fiore."

"You were hired to educate a princess, Miss McGarden, not some low-life little girl who is deaf!"

"Lucy lo-"

"What was that?!"

Levy cleared her throat, "I'm sorry. Princess Lucille loves to learn about the guilds in Fiore. It's her favorite subject! She-"

"Well, teach her that _and_ the history of Fiore! The dragon hunting guilds can be extra!"

"But-"

"No 'buts'! It's final! If you don't do this, I'll report you to the king and you'll most likely be fired!"

Levy sighed, "Yes sir, I'll teach her the history of Fiore from now on."

"Good!"

Ivan stormed out of the room and Levy banged her head against her book with a long dramatic sigh. " _I'm sorry, Lu. It looks like I'm forced take away some of the little freedom you have."_

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"Levy!" Lucy walked in the library to see her best friend/teacher sitting at a table with her textbooks. "Erza left an hour ago. She told me to tell you goodbye," Lucy noticed the depressed look on Levy's face. "Levy? What's wrong?"

Levy slowly looked up at her best friend. How was she supposed to tell her this?

"It's Ivan…Isn't it?" Lucy seemed to read her face. She tensed in her position and waited for the blunette's reply.

After a minute of silence which seemed to last for an eternity, Levy found her voice: "Ivan came in here earlier today. He said I couldn't teach you history on the dragon hunting guilds anymore. I have you teach you history on Fiore. The guilds will be extra…"

" _I don't even have the freedom to chose my own subjects anymore…_ "

Lucy burst into tears.

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 **Poor Lucy...I hope things turn around for her. Wait, I'm the author! I have the power! Hahahaha! Don't worry I hate sad endings so I guarantee it'll end well. XD**

 **-zEllie**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm sure you've all been wondering where Natsu is right now. Well, don't worry, this chapter will tell you. I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 3)

Natsu watched as his fist – on fire – connected to a black haired, half-naked man. He flew across the room and almost hit a woman in a pink dress holding a couple of beers in her hand. Natsu flinched as she looked his way.

"Sorry, Mira, I swear I wasn't aiming for you!"

Mira smiled kindly at him, "It's alright, Natsu! Just be more careful!"

Before he could respond, a fist met his face. Natsu jumped back and looked at the owner. "What was that for, Ice Princess?!" His forehead, along with the ice mage's, banged together and they stared menacingly into their eyes.

"What do you think, Flame Brain?! You punched across the room and I almost hit Mira!"

"What did you call me, Pervy Popsicle?!"

"A Flame Brain, you Fire Breather!"

"Guys! Guys!"

Every person in the room, along with Natsu and Gray, turned to guild hall doors. There was a little blunette girl with a white cat at her heels panting.

"What is it, Wendy? What's wrong?" Mira's little snowy haired sister, pat Wendy's back gently as everyone waited for her to speak.

"She…She's here!"

"Who's here?" Lisanna asked.

"I'm here."

Everyone turned to the entrance again and smiles appeared when they saw a woman with red hair. Cheers were heard all around and Natsu pumped his fist in the air as his best friend/pet, Happy, flew in the air next to him.

"Yea! Erza's back!"

Erza sat down at a table next to a brunette with a barrel of booze in her clutches. The brunette smiled and got a few words in before people swarmed around the red head.

"So how's life at the castle?" The brunette asked, wiping whatever she was drinking off her mouth.

"Oh, it's been fine. It's good to see you, Cana. Still drinking, I see."

"Of course! And it's good to see you too, Erza."

Natsu plopped down next to Erza with Happy on his head of pink hair, "Erza! How ya been?!"

"Hello, Natsu. I've been well. And you? You haven't been fighting with Gray or Gajeel while been gone have you?" A dark aura radiating off her sent chills up Natsu's spine as he gulped in fear.

"N-no!"

She looked like she didn't believe him, but didn't say anything else due to others that swarmed around her, hugging her, and asked questions.

When the commotion died down slightly, someone shouted, "Let's celebrate!". Mira found her away to the woman in armor with a happy smile: "Welcome back, Erza! I hope the king and his men have treated you well."

"They have. Is Master here?"

The snowy haired beauty shook her head, "He was called for a meeting. He should be back in a minute or so though."  
"I'll wait then."

"Would you like anything to drink or eat?"

"Strawberry cheesecake will do," Erza's eyes seemed to sparkle at her words.

"Coming right up!"

Erza waited impatiently as Mira fetched the cake. As she did, she turned and examined the guild: Natsu and Gray were bumping foreheads (and they threw their arms around each other with a smile when they caught Erza's eye), Happy was trying to get Carla to eat a fish, Elfman and Lisanna were in a corner chatting, Alzack and Bisca were playing with Asuka, Cana was drinking, Romeo and Wendy were talking, and Juvia was swooning over Gray behind a pillar. Erza sighed and smiled. Things haven't changed in the slightest. Everyone was still loud and rowdy.

"Erza, here's your cake," Mira smiled and handed the extremely happy Erza her cake.

"Oooo thank you, Mira."

"You're welcome."

Erza chomped down her cake quickly and hopped up to order another piece before Wendy had stopped her: "um…Erza?"

Erza smiled at the young blunette, "Yes? What is it?"

"Natsu, Gray, Happy, Carla, and I were wondering if you wanted to go dragon hunting with us? We're just going to the east forest."

"Of course I'll come, but I have to speak to Master first. How about in half an hour? Does that sound good?"  
Wendy smiled, "Yeah that sounds great! I'll tell them."

Erza sighed and watched Natsu throw a fit about having to wait. Wendy calmed him down and Gray muttered something Erza was too far to hear. Whatever it was, Natsu got ticked off and raised his fist, but stopped – once again – when he caught Erza's glance.

"Erza."

The red head turned around to a short, old man who stood between the front doors of the guild hall. Erza smiled and walked up to him. "Master."

"I trust your journey to Magnolia was safe?" Master Makarov stated as he shrugged off his fluffy white coat.

"It was."

"Come," Makarov beckoned her to follow him. They went up the stairs to a small private room to talk. "Anything suspicious?"

"Nothing, besides what he's already doing," Erza put a finger to her chin. "I have noticed that Ivan is putting more and more pressure on Lucy. I've been keeping an extra eye on him, but nothing else besides that."

"I see…"

"So my dead-beat dad is targeting the princess is he?"

Erza turned around to meet a tall muscular blonde man with a large, fluffy, black coat hanging on his shoulders. He had a cool lighting scar on his eye with strange headphones.

"Laxus, I didn't see you there."

Laxus huffed and ignored her statement, "Is there any particular reason why he's targeting her?"

Erza shook her head, "I have a hunch that he wants the crown, but-"

"No," Makarov interrupted her, "If Ivan wanted the crown, he would've taken a different approach. He wouldn't get himself hired as an advisor, he would've targeted the king instead."

"That's true," Erza spoke and paused in thought. "I don't know what else he would want Lucy for though. I'm sorry I don't have anything else important, Master. I promise I'll keep a better eye on Ivan."

"And the other on the princess if you will. I'm worried for her safety."

"Right."

"I apologize for having you take the position as the king's captain of the knights, Erza. If Ivan found out that you were a spy, he would probably kill you."

"It's alright, Master. I'm happy to help. Besides, I've become a close friend of Lucy; I've grown fond of her and I will help her even if you didn't send me on this mission," Erza smiled kindly and Makarov mirrored her.

"I'm glad to hear. Now you run off, Erza, and hang out with the brats down there. They've been whining to me about when you'll visit."

"Of course."

Erza took her leave and Makarov sighed and looked at Laxus, who was scowling at the wall, " _Ivan…what are you up to?_ "

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 **Erza is a spy?! Yes, she is and let's hope she doesn't get caught. I hope you like this chapter and I promise it'll go from boring to awesome! Just bare with me right now…**

 **-zEllie**


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh man, I'm getting a writer's block at this part…Don't get me wrong, I have everything planned out on my notepad, but I'm trying to draw this out a little before I jump into the plot. I just need to focus and write.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 4)

Natsu stretched his arms high in the sky as he and his friends walked back to the Fairy Tail guild hall. "Magnolia, your heroes are back!" He exclaimed. "And right after we slay a dragon too!"

"Natsu," Happy flew in front of the pinkette to get his attention, "That wasn't actually a dragon. We never hunt dragons. I still don't even know why we're called dragon hunting guilds when all we do is hunt beasts and take small, boring missions."

"Happy's right, Flame Head," Gray rolled his eyes. "Nobody's even seen a dragon since they disappeared seven years ago. We should be called beast hunting guilds."

"Well, Underwear King," Natsu snapped back, "We're not. When dragons do come back, we dragon hunting guilds will live up to our name, especially us dragon slayers. Right, Wendy?"

Wendy nodded, "Right, but Natsu, everyone in the guild are technically dragon slayers. If they weren't, why else are they in a dragon hunting guild."

"That's doesn't matter, Child," Wendy almost forgot that she was carrying Carla. "There are only four actual dragon slayers in the guild. I don't know for sure, but I have a hunch that when dragons _do_ appear, you, Natsu, Gajeel, and Laxus will be the only ones capable to killing them. Dragons have a very tough hide and love to kill…"

"…except for Grandine…" Wendy added.

"…and Igneel," Natsu added after her.

"Hey," Gray pretended to be insulted and looked at Carla. "Are you saying we're all weak? Just because we aren't dragon slayers, doesn't mean we can't kill a dragon."

Natsu coughed.

"Did I hear you just say 'ice is weak', Flame for Brains?!" Gray shouted.

"What?! I said no such thing, Captain Underpants!"

"You liar!"

"Stripper! And speaking of which, put your clothes on!"

Gray sweared when he looked down and saw that he was in his underwear. He ran off shouting, "I'll be back," and searched for his clothes he ended up dropping unconsciously.

Wendy giggled at the situation and turned to around to watch where she was going. As she did so, she saw Erza. Erza was walking right next to Natsu and was strangely silent. At first, Wendy just thought that she was tired from traveling, but that look in her eye told her something else. "Hey Erza?"

The red head stopped walking and turned around, "Yes?"  
"You've been very quiet ever since you got done talking to Master a few hours ago. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Natsu, who had also stopped walking and turned around along with Happy, said with a carefree attitude. He didn't realize what popped out of his mouth next: "You're usually not quiet. Is something wrong?"

If looks could kill, Natsu would be dead right now as he received a major death glare from Erza. "Are you saying I'm loud?"

"N-no! I'm just saying that you're never this quiet!"  
Wendy shook her head with a smile and focused her attention on Erza. "Is something bothering you? Did Master say something that made you uneasy?"

"Oh no, I'm just worried about the princess' safety. That's all."

"The princess?" Wendy cocked her eyebrow.

"Erza works at the castle remember?" Carla stated.

"Oh yeah! I forgot!"

"Why are you worried about the princess?" Natsu asked, putting his hands behind his hand. "What was her name again? Luigi? Looney?"

"It's Lucille. I call her Lucy though."

"Right right…why are you worried about her? She lives in a castle full of guards."

"It's not that…I just have a bad feeling someone is going to strike…and soon. I just don't know when, where, or how."

Before the two dragons slayers and their exceeds could question any further, Gray appeared and said, "Hey guys, I'm back. I couldn't find my pants, but I got my shirt and jacket."

Natsu opened his mouth to make fun of him, but he remembered he was in the presence of she-who-knows-no-mercy and decided that he didn't want to die today. The team continued their way to the guild hall where they relaxed and partied…well _some_ partied. Erza went to her dorm at Fairy Hills to rest and Wendy and Carla accompanied Juvia and Gray on a job to pay their rents. That left Natsu to pick fights with Gajeel and Happy to order fish from Mira. The rest of the night seemed to go normally, but they had no idea what awaited them.

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Lucy banged her head on her book and moaned rather loudly. It was nearly midnight and she was in the library with a dozen open books around her. She almost fell asleep when the door opened. Lucy looked up to see Levy, in a nightgown, rubbing her eyes.

"You're still awake? You need to go to bed, Lu. Get some sleep."

"I can't. I have to finish my studies. Ivan is making you give me so much…I'll get a ton tomorrow also."

"Oh, I won't give you very much."

"Ivan will make you though."

"Nah, I'll just…" Levy yawned in the middle of her sentence, "…tell him I gave you everything."

"I thought you weren't a liar."

"Well, this one will slide."

"Levy, I'll be in trouble if I don't finish this."

"Tell you what, I won't give you very much if you go to bed. If you decide to continue to stay up, I'll give you double tomorrow."

Lucy's mouth dropped at her best friend's threat. "Seriously? You wouldn't do that."  
"I would and I will."

Lucy sighed, "But Levy…"  
"You need sleep, Lu. Just go to bed and let me handle Ivan tomorrow."  
Lucy gave in and hopped up, sleepy-eyed, "Alright, alright, I'm coming."

Levy smiled and walked her friend to her bedroom. On their way though, Ivan was going to the library to check on Lucy and passed them.

"Lucy! What are you doing?"

Before she could answer, Levy spoke. "She's going to sleep. It's midnight and she's tired."

"No! She needs to finish her work!"  
"She will finish her work…after she gets some sleep! She can't concentrate when she closes her eyes every five seconds! In the morning, her strength will come back and she'll finish it then!"

"Miss McGarden-"

"I'm sure you want her to learn the best she could while she can think and stay awake. I'm sure that's why you're pushing her so hard is that right, Advisor Ivan?"

Lucy could've sworn that steam came out of Ivan's ears. He stomped his feet and agreed, walking off.

"Thanks Levy. You got guts."

Levy smirked, "I've always wanted to fight back."

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 **Yea! Chapter 4 is done! I made it through my writer's block! I'll start the next chapter tomorrow! I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **-zEllie**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 5)

One week later, Erza returned to Crocus, but instead of going straight to the castle, she rented a room at an inn. She searched through her stash of armor and found a perfect black one that she forgot she bought a while back. It was raining hard outside and probably ten o'clock at night; this would blend her in with the darkness and keep out the rain. As she equipped her spying suit, she went out into the pouring rain and climbed the castle wall with her swords.

Erza sighed in relief that she hadn't fallen when she reached her goal: a certain window. She was lucky the light was still on when she peeked in. Advisor Ivan smiled as she seemed to speak to one of his paper dolls. He had a lot of paper in his room and if Erza looked close enough, they seemed to be documents, there were a lot of weapons in his room: knives and such, and on the wall, were maps that he had marked all over. Erza tried to get a closer look at the documents, but she was too far and the rain wasn't helping.

" _I'll have to check that out later…_ "

Erza turned her attention to the conversation she couldn't hear. She tried to make out his words by reading his lips, but he'd turn every which way and she just wasn't good at reading people's lips. She got something like "practice magic" and "Princess Lucille", but that was it.

" _If only I could just open the window…_ "

Erza reached over and quietly unlocked the latch. She pushed it open just a hair and pressed her ear against the window frame, trying to listen over the rain.

"No! I don't want you to engage on your own, Obra, and that's final! Wait for my signal when the time comes. For now, just keep training. The time is almost here; you just have to wait a few more days."

Ivan's paper doll exploded in flames and vanished. Erza silently cursed at hearing so little, but she got a few things: Ivan was going to attack with this "Obra" and Ivan will give him some kind of signal.

The window opened widely and Erza panicked. She froze in her spot and didn't dare look up. If she did, Ivan would see her head move and she'd be caught, but maybe he already saw her. Erza stood still and she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She held her breath as Ivan placed his hand on the window sill, right next to her face.

He hummed, shut the window, and locked it. Erza let out a sigh of relief and put a hand to her chest to calm her heart down. " _That was close._ "

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The next day, Erza was very happy to see Lucy and Levy and visa versa, but she was extremely tense. Every time Ivan would walk past her, her muscles would cramp up and she couldn't help, but glare with one thought running through her head: " _What are you up to?_ "

Lucy finished her studies quickly and since it was Erza's first day back, she didn't have to do any particular duties. So, the three of them got to hang out for the day. It was super rare, considering Ivan pushing Lucy to the brink, but when he happened to walk by and see them laughing, smiling, and chatting, he didn't say anything.

During dinner (Jude, Layla, Lucy, Levy, Erza, and a few other people were eating together), everything was peaceful and happy because Ivan hadn't arrived. Nobody said anything, but Erza could see that everyone seemed relaxed by the absence of his presence, especially in Lucy. It was awkward and silent at first before the king spoke up.

"Captain Erza, how was your trip to Magnolia?"

"It was fine, Your Majesty. My friends were very happy to see me. Apparently, they didn't expect me coming. It was good to see them though. When I first arrived, they didn't wait long before asking me to go dragon hunting with them."

"Oh," Layla looked up after swallowing some mashed potatoes, "I had forgotten you're apart of a guild. Which one was it again?"

"Fairy Tail, Your Highness."

"I didn't know you were apart of a guild," Lucy looked curiously at her friend.

"I didn't either," Levy wore the same look at Lucy. "Is it fun?"

Erza tapped her chin before answering, "In its own way; it's very reckless. Everybody is always looking for a fight against each other. Lots of things get destroyed and Master Makarov is stressed because of the bills."

The queen, Lucy, and Levy laughed and Erza smiled at the brightness the room seemed to get. It was hard to see Lucy smile now-a-days, let alone laugh. It brought warmth and happiness to Erza.

"I wonder," The king spoke, looking around, "where is Ivan? He is usually always on time for dinner."

With those words, Lucy's laughter and smile disappeared. Erza's did too as she tensed up. King Jude is right; Ivan is never late for dinner…what is he doing? It made Erza uncomfortable and cautious.

"I didn't see him too long ago, Your Highness," Levy spoke, breaking the unbearable silence. "I think, an hour of so ago, he was on his way to the library."

"Was he? It's strange to think he'd be late. I guess he just lost track of time."

With that, the king and queen entered a conversation with the lords and ladies at the table. Erza, Levy, and Lucy had their own quiet conversation that no one paid attention to.

"How come you never told us you were apart of Fairy Tail, Erza?" Lucy asked. Secretly, she's been so interested in dragon hunting guilds, especially Fairy Tail. They seem so lively and powerful. They're the most famous guild in Fiore as well. She's only mentioned to Levy that she enjoyed learning about the guilds, but she didn't speak openly. To learn one of her best friends is a member of Fairy Tail, makes her excited.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," Erza apologized. "It never came to mind. Eventually, after a while, I just figured you already knew."

"It's okay. So, it's reckless? On a scale of one to ten, how reckless?"

"One-hundred."

Levy giggled, "That sounds like Fairy Tail. That guild is _super_ popular. How many members are there?"

Erza hummed and swallowed her food, "I don't really know. There's a lot, but I don't really know how many specifically."

"Can you tell me about it? I mean, what do you guys do?" Lucy tried not to seem too eager, but since she doesn't study about the guilds anymore (doing it for extra credit was too much for her) she was anxious to know about it from a member.

"Most of the time, we party."  
"Really?"

"Yup, but we go dragon hunting too, which is a lot of fun. We take job requests too, but those are boring."

"Boring? How so?" Levy leaned in to listen closer.

"Yeah. They're always either "catch the bandits" or "guard something valuable". Depending on how valuable the item is or how strong the bandits are, the reward is different."

"That's it? That's seems pretty lame. Why would people request that kinda stuff from guilds?"

"I don't know. It's probably because they can't do it themselves or they're not strong enough. Every once in a while, S-requests come in and we all get excited over those."

"What are S-requests?"

"The S stands for "special". It's basically what it sounds like: a special request. It's different from all the rest and usually has a high reward. Everyone is always excited when they come in and the first one who gets the sheet gets to do the job with whoever is in their team."

"A team?"

"Everyone in a guild is allies, but there are some that form little teams and do missions together. You two would like it there. We all have our flaws and we'd probably freak you out at first, but all-in-all, it's a great guild."

"If you take jobs and make money in your guild," Levy asked, suspicious, "then why did you take a job here at the castle?"

Erza blinked and tried to think up an excuse without having to lie to them. Lucky for her, the doors burst open, causing everyone to stop talking and look up. Erza's eyes narrowed as Advisor Ivan leaned on his knees panting hard.

"Y-your M-majesty," He panted, "I'm s-sorry to disturb you, b-but I just got a letter," He held up the letter. "A dark guild is declaring war against the Crocus!"

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 **Dun-dun-duuunnn! How was this one? Did you enjoy it? I hope you did, I'll write the next one soon. I'm in the plot now so I'll be excited to write. It'll come quick.**

 **-zEllie**


	6. Chapter 6

**All your lovely reviews gave me a happy attack (lol Happy attack! XD)…I love you all! I feel very happy with all the encouraging reviews! Okay, I gotta calm down before I have another happy attack *deep breath* okay, I'm good. I hope you enjoy this one.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 6)

King Jude shoved open the doors of his office open and marched in with Advisor Ivan at his heels. "Why?! Why would a dark guild want to issue war against Crocus?!"

"Your Majesty-"

"Which guild is it?"

"Raven Tail."

"Raven Tail?" The king turned around to face his advisor. "Those wizards? They're been in the shadows for years and they've never been any trouble! It's strange for a dark guild, but why attack Crocus?!"

"It says they want to create a country with only magic and-"

"Then why didn't they go after the Magic Council?!"

"Your Highness, you have more authority than the Magic Council. If Alexei, who seems to be the master of Raven Tail, killed you and took control of the throne, they could destroy the Magic Council, legal guilds, and even cities in Fiore!"

The king silently cursed and ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair.

"My Liege," Ivan spoke again, "It says their time of rule is here. They want dark guilds to come and rule Fiore."

"That won't happen!" The king shouted. "By all means, let them come! I'll put them to a stop so this won't happen again!"

"Your Majesty, not to be rude, but we're talking about an _entire_ dark guild. There could be over a hundred members. These are wizards, people who hunt dragons. Of our entire knights, only Captain Erza can use magic. I don't think we'd be able to take them out."

Jude rubbed his temples and turned to his wife who had just entered the room with a worried look, "Layla, I never imagined we'd go to war against a dark guild full of wizards. Our knights most likely won't win in a battle."

Layla nodded understandably and turned to Ivan, "Advisor Ivan, what would you do?"

Ivan smiled kindly, "Perhaps, If Captain Erza taught the knights magic. They may not be as skilled at most wizards, but at least they'll know how to use magic."

The king and queen nodded, "That may be our best option right now. We are on the losing side and we need to strengthen our arms."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Lucy, Levy, and Erza walked quickly to the library. They talked amongst themselves in a quiet manner. "This isn't good."

Lucy blinked back tears of panic, "If Crocus is going against an entire dark guild, we'd die. Knights against wizards won't end well for us."

"You're right, Lu," Levy spoke, "We need to practice our magic and give the knights a hand whenever we fight our first battle. I don't understand why a dark guild would go after the capital of Fiore."

"Levy," Lucy replied, "It's obvious. They want to take over and create a country with only magic."

"Then why didn't they go after the Magic Council?!"

"Because my father has higher authority! My dad could fire every single one of the members of the council. If my dad dies and they take over, it's over for us and people who don't use magic. We need to get stronger in our own magic help out-"

"Wait, Erza!" Levy turned to the red head who seemed to be in deep thought, "You could teach the knights how to use magic! We'll have a better fighting chance! If the knights didn't use magic, we'd be at a terrible disadvantage, but if you taught them, it would be like a guild against another guild! I can teach some of them Solid Script Magic too! I'm sure I have a book in the library that has powerful spells…" Lucy and Levy continued to blabber until they opened the library door.

Erza suddenly stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened as something formed into her head. "Erza? What is it?" Levy asked, anxious as her friend's face continued to grow.

"Levy! You are a genius!" Erza shouted with the biggest smile ever.

"Huh?" was all that popped out of her mouth.

"We don't need to teach the knights magic! You said it yourself: a guild against a guild! We could hire Fairy Tail to fight this war for us against whichever dark guild it is!"

Lucy and Levy's face exploded in smiles as they jumped for joy and hugged the knight tightly. "That's an awesome idea, Erza! That's perfect!"  
"Levy gave me the idea!"

"I wouldn't have thought of it!"

"We should tell my mom and dad!" Lucy shouted with glee and turned to her side. "Do you hear that, Plue? Fairy Tail is coming to the castle!"

Plue danced with joy, "Pu~pun!"

"It's not a guarantee," Erza stated, "but I don't think King Jude would turn this offer down. Let's go see them!"  
"See who?"

The three girls (plus Plue) turned around to meet the king, queen, and Ivan. Levy and Erza bowed respectfully and waited for the king's consent to rise.

"Captain Erza," Jude told them to stand back up, "I've came to tell you that we have a plan. I want you to teach my knights your magic as best as your can before Raven Tail gets here."

"The dark guild is Raven Tail, Your Majesty?" Erza asked with a raised eyebrow. " _That name is awfully close to Fairy Tail…_ "

"Yes, it will be difficult, but it's the only idea we have right now."

"I beg your pardon, Your Highness, but it's not. I have an idea."

"Do you?" Layla spoke in her soft, gentle voice. "Let's hear it."

"My guild, Fairy Tail, can fight for us. If you issue a request to Fairy Tail about this war, I don't have a doubt that we'll accept. It'll be a lot easier than teaching the knights and we members in the guild have our own personal strengths."  
Ivan's shocked expression didn't go unnoticed. Lucy watched it go from shocked, to curious, then…relieved? Ivan is relieved that Erza is a member of the most popular dragon hunting guild in Fiore? That's strange.

"That sounds fantastic!" The queen exclaimed. "That's a better idea than what we came up with! Don't you agree, Jude?"

Jude nodded, "That is a better decision. It puts us on equal terms with them. Tell me, Captain Erza, how much money should I offer Fairy Tail to help us?"  
Erza smiled, "It don't matter, My Liege. Fairy Tail is a guild of friendship that we combine together to conquer any enemy. In any situation, we would gladly help. If you offered us nothing, we would still happily accept."

"I can't offer nothing! Is 5,000,000J good?" The king asked.

"It's up to you, Your Highness. Whatever you offer, we will accept."

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Natsu snored obnoxiously loud as Gray snickered, drawing a fuzzy mustache on his face. Wendy watched him with Carla hovering above her. She blinked twice before whispering, "Gray, that's not very nice."

"Oh come on, Wendy, this'll be hilarious!" Gray snickered again as he gave Natsu girlly eyelashes. "He deserves it anyway! He's such a hot-tempered, dense idiot! I bet he won't notice for the entire day, unless someone tells him," Gray turned to Wendy. "You won't tell him will you?"  
"If he finds out and asks me why I didn't tell him, I'll point at you."

"Fair enough."

As Gray gave Natsu panda eyes, Wendy ran over to Cana with Carla behind her. Cana was lying under the table with some of her booze spilt on her. Everyone had partied last night for apparently no reason. Everyone had decided to crash at the guild hall. Wendy came in this morning and gapped at seeing the room destroyed and people asleep on the floor, table, or even hanging on the wall. Gray was the first to wake up and Cana was opening her eyes.

"Cana? Are you okay?" Wendy helped the brunette up and went to get a paper towel to wipe the booze off her.

"Ugh…Yeah, I just have a hangover. Ah! My head…"

Wendy began to heal Cana's headache as some other members woke up. Cana thanked Wendy and ran off, probably to order some more beer from Mira who had just gotten to the bar. The young blunette girl ran around the guild hall healing people with hangovers and helping them back onto their feet. Once everything had gone back to normal, Wendy sighed and ran to the request board, ignoring Natsu punching Gray for drawing on his face. She looked at each of the requests and sighed a second time.

"Man! It's just 'catch the bandits' or 'protect a sacred jewel'! I wish an S-request comes in today."

"If you're bored," Natsu appeared out of nowhere (Gray was behind him rubbing his jaw with an angry look as Juvia swooned next to him). The markings were still on his face, "we could go dragon hunting."

"We did that yesterday…oh and Natsu, you might wanna go wash your face."

"Yeah, that's probably best…" Natsu ran off with an embarrassed blush.

Wendy pressed her lips together so she wouldn't laugh as Carla spoke, "You know, maybe there is an S-request. We should so ask Mira. She would know."

"You're right. Let's go," Wendy walked up to Mira who was making breakfast for everyone. "Hey Mira!"

The white haired beauty turned and smiled, "Hey Wendy! Hey Carla! How are you two?"

"We're fine. I was wondering if there were any S-requests I could do."

"One just came in, but I haven't looked at it yet. I'm going go review after I finish making pancakes."

"I can make the pancakes while you go look at it. Why do you have to go over it again?"

"It's to make sure it's not a prank or something like that. Oh and thanks for offering! Of course, you can help. You know how to make pancakes right?"

Wendy nodded, "Of course I do! I-"

"Did someone say pancakes?!" Natsu appeared at the bar along with Happy, a clean face, and a hungry look.

"We did," Mira smiled as she left the bar, "Wendy's going to take over for a while as I go review the S-request upstairs."

"Oh! There's a new S-request! Yes! We're so getting that before anyone else, Wendy! Wow, pancakes and an S-request in one day! Sweet!"

"Aye!"

Mira giggled before heading upstairs.

"I wonder what this S-request will be this time?" Wendy wondered out loud and she mixed the pancake mix in a bowl.

"Who knows, but I'm excited."

"Hey, Wendy," Happy scooted closer to Carla hoping she wouldn't walk away. Lucky for him, she didn't, "Can you make fish-pancakes for me?"

"Fish-pancakes?"

"Ew!" Carla exclaimed, "That's sounds disgusting!"  
Wendy didn't admit it out loud so she wouldn't accidently hurt Happy's feelings or something, but that really did sound awful! Yuck! "Happy, there's no such thing as fish-pancakes," Natsu said, drumming his fingers on the counter impatiently.

"Guys! Guys!"

The guild grew silent and turned to the stairs. Mira came down, panting when she reached the bottom. When she caught her breath, she held up a paper in her hands and shouted, "S-Request!"

The guild erupted in cheers:

"Yea! That's awesome, Mira!"

"I've been waiting for one of those! It's about time!"

"I call dibs on it!"  
"No fair! You got to go on one last time!"  
"Too bad! Our team called it! Give it here, Mira!"

"Wait, I haven't gone on one in months! It's my team's turn!"

"Nu-uh! I remember you going on one the time before!"

"Guys! Shut up! Mira isn't finished!"

The guild grew quiet again as Mira, surprisingly impatient, waited for them to finish their argument. "You'll never believe who requested this: The king! King Jude of Fiore!"

Eyes widened everywhere. "The king?!" Gray exclaimed. "King Jude has never issued a request before! That's strange!"

"Who cares?! If the king issued the request, that means the reward is _super_ high! I _definitely_ call _double_ dibs on it now!"

"No way! I'm broke! I need the cash!"

"Wow! Crocus! We'll get to see where Erza works, Carla!"

"I doubt we will. So many people here want to take this one."

"I'm all fired up now!"

"Aye sir!"

"Shut up you brats!" Everyone turned to see Master Makarov sitting on the countertop of the bar next to Happy and Carla. Murmurs of "Sorry Master" quietly made itself known as people stopped arguing. Makarov looked across the room at Mira who was still standing at the bottom of the stairs. "From King Jude himself you say? That's odd. What is the request exactly?"  
"Well, first of all, if we accept this, _everyone_ is going to take it!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Apparently, a dark guild declared war on the capital and they need wizards to fight."  
"What?! A dark guild?!"  
"Which one is it?!"

"Why would they declare war on Crocus?!"  
"Would you all shut up?!"

For the third time, everyone grew silent.

"There is a message on the back," Mira continued, turning the filer around. "It says, 'Dear Master Makarov, The dark guild, Raven Tail, has declared war against me and the Capital. They say they want to take over and bring all dark guilds back to Fiore and create a country with only magic. My knights do not wield magic and I can't win this war without wizards. My captain of the knights, Erza Scarlet, gave me the idea of requesting your guild to come fight for me. I hope you accept. Signed, King Jude of Fiore.' " Mira blinked. "Oh, and by the way, the reward is 5,000,000J."

Everyone turned to the Master, wondering what he would say. Some were curious, some were praying that he would say yes (probably because of the money even though they'd have to split it amongst the guild members), and some were excited. Master Makarov stroked his mustache and looked down. "Hmmm? The dark guild Raven Tail huh?"

"Come on, Gramps! Say yes!"

"Shut up, Natsu!"

"You shut up, Ice Princess! And where are your clothes?!"  
"Crap."

"Guys, shush!"

The silent minute seemed to be an hour as everyone watched the short, old man.

Master Makarov finally looked up at Mira, " Mira, send a letter to the king; tell him we accept."

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 **I gave you an extra long one because I was happy and you all deserve it. I hope it wasn't too boring! Please tell me it wasn't boring! And don't worry, Natsu and Lucy will meet soon!**

 **-zEllie**


	7. Chapter 7

**It's here! And so is "The Grand Banquet: NaLu Style". If you haven't read that, go read it, because I personally think it's awesome! Blue Star, thank you for all the sweet reviews and for reminding me about Gajeel…because I forgot about him. Every original Fairy Tail member in the anime is a member of Fairy Tail in my story except Lucy and Levy (did that make sense?). Anyway, I hope you enjoy chapter 7!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 7)

Levy knocked franticly on Lucy's door the next day after Raven Tail declared war on them. She was so excited that she talked faster than Lucy could understand. Lucy had to literally grab her shoulders and shake her back and forth until the petite girl could barely breathe. Once she could, she took a deep breath and shouted with a smile:  
"Fairy Tail accepted our offer! The whole guild is on their way as we speak!"

Lucy screamed so loud the guards came to check on her. Lucy was embarrassed at that moment and apologized at least seventeen times, but after that she was so excited she couldn't stop smiling. She spent half the day picking out her outfit she'd wear tomorrow and the other half helping Levy pick out her outfit. She could barely sleep with so much excitement. She couldn't believe it: Fairy Tail is coming to the castle! _The_ Fairy Tail! This was like meeting all your favorite celebrities at once!

Erza warned her and Levy countless of times that they'd most likely make a bad impression, but they didn't mind. They couldn't wait!

When Fairy Tail arrived the next day, Lucy and Levy were in the library doing studies. Erza knocked and walked in as they were in the middle of math.

"Hey Lucy! Hey Levy!" Erza smiled at the two.

"Hey Erza!" Levy smiled as Lucy banged her head on the table muttering something like "stupid, worthless algebra".

Erza giggled at Lucy and said, "Guess what?"

"You got a new sword?"

"No."

"Um…you ran into that Jellal fellow you've told us about?"

Erza's face went red. "No!"

Levy laughed. "Sorry, Erza. What's up?!"

"Fairy Tail has arrived!"

Lucy and Levy shot out of their seats and shouted in unison, "Seriously! Where are they?!"

"They should be outside the front gate-"

That's all Erza could get out of her mouth before Lucy and Levy ran off. Erza laughed as the two friends raced through the hallways and past maids who were shouting "Princess! Stop running!", but they ignored them.

"Open: Gate of Canis Minor: Nikola!" A small white snowman appeared and Lucy picked him up. When she first heard Fairy Tail was coming, she told Plue that night. He was just as excited as she was and she would feel terrible if she didn't let him meet them. "Plue! Fairy Tail is here!"  
"Pun! Pu~pun!" The trembling spirit smiled widely and hugged her tightly.

Levy giggled at the two and stopped in front of the front door, but before she could reach the knob, Lucy spoke, "Now that they're here," Levy turned around. "I'm really nervous."

"Huh?"

"I mean, you know how you'd be excited for a while, and then at the last moment, you're super nervous? Well, that's me right now."

"Oh Lucy!" Levy flashed a smile. "You don't need to be nervous! In fact, _they're_ the ones who should be nervous. They're about to meet the beautiful princess!"

Lucy smiled, "Don't forget about her cute best friend!"

Levy giggled and opened the door.

"Ugh! I'm never riding a stupid train again!"

"You say that every time!"

"Do you think we should knock again, Mira?"

"A guard said that he would go get the king. We should just wait."

"Wendy! Cast the troia spell! Please!"  
"The more I use it, the less it works, so I probably shouldn't. I'm sorry. We're going to fight a war so I'm going to need all the strength I can get, anyway. Besides, you're already off the train."

"She's right."

"It might help if you sat up."

"Ugh! Don't wanna!"

Lucy, Levy, and Plue quietly shut the door and stood staring at them with wide smiles. "I wonder how long until they notice?" Levy whispered.

"I don't know. Let's just wait."

Lucy observed them all. First off: they were very loud. Lucy was surprised she couldn't hear them from inside. There was a beautiful white haired model, Mirajane Strauss, Lucy looks up to from Sorcerer Weekly, but she didn't recognize anybody else. Lucy noticed other beautiful girls that looked her age; that made her feel a little bit better. Most of the men were very handsome as well that were very attractive. Keyword: most. A pink haired man probably about a year older than her was lying face down on the ground moaning rather loudly. Lucy wanted to laugh at him, but kept her mouth shut. There was also a cute little blunette girl that Lucy wanted to hug.

What was probably most cool was the three exceeds down there that made Lucy want to run up and squish them into a hug. She's learned about exceeds in her science book, but had never actually seen one (besides pictures). There was a blue one, a white one, and a black one. Lucy didn't know how they would fight in this war. They were probably pets though. The blue one was next to the pink puke-face, the white one was in the young blunette's arms, and the black one stood next to a guy with piercings in the face with long black hair.

Lucy wasn't the only one who was intrigued with the exceeds. Plue suddenly jumped out of her arms before she could tighten her grip and ran down the steps toward the blue one.

"Plue!"

Lucy didn't realize she shouted until it came out of her mouth. The cute blunette girl, Mirajane, a half-naked black haired man, and a large man with a lightning scar on his eye, turned and looked at her. The rest of the guild seemed oblivious to her presence until the blue exceed screamed and toppled over. Everyone looked over at him and the pink puke-face lifted his head. Plue had jumped on top of him.

"Ahh! What is this thing?! It's attacking me!"

"It looks like a snowman."

"Can it speak?"

"How should I know?"

"What's your name little guy?"

"Pun Pu~!"

"Cool! His name is Pun! Funny name!"

"Idiot! That's not his name!"

"Well then what is it?"

Levy poked Lucy's shoulder. "Do something."

"Right," Lucy gulped down her nervousness and ran down the steps. "Hey! Plue!" she pulled the snowman spirit off the exceed, ignoring the stares.

That's when she locked gazes with the pink dragon slayer for the first time.

The pink puke-face's face went back to normal, but he still lay on the ground. Lucy took back her words earlier: he was just as attractive as the other guys. Pink hair wouldn't necessarily look good on anybody, but it only made him look better with his tan skin. The onyx eyes with a hint of green in them helped as well. Lucy's forcefully tore her eyes away from his and stood back up with Plue in her arms.

"Um…sorry about that."

"Who are you?"

Crap, even his voice was attractive.

Before Lucy could answer though, the doors opened again to reveal the king and queen. As if it was her signal, Lucy walked up next to them with Plue still shaking in her arms. Levy was behind her.

"Fairy Tail!" Jude exclaimed, "I bid you welcome and my gratitude for accepting my request…"

Levy looked around, " _That's weird…where's Ivan?_ "

As the king and queen talked, Levy poked Lucy's shoulder again. "Lu!" She hissed.

Lucy turned around and hissed back, "What?"

"Where's Ivan?"

Lucy looked left and right, but Advisor Ivan wasn't in sight. It was weird; he was usually right next to Jude and Layla when they greeted people like this.

Lucy turned back around, shrugged, and whispered, "I don't know!"

"And where's Erza?"

"I don't know that either."

"Pu~pun!"

"Hush, Plue! My dad is talking."

"…Now that that's settled, my maid, Spetto, will escort you to our guest rooms we've assigned to you."

Spetto began to lead them away as Lucy's father said something else: "Makarov, may I have a moment to discuss the details?"

"Of course, Your Highness."

The king and Master Makarov disappeared behind the doors, leaving the queen, Lucy, Levy, and Plue alone.

"Hello Plue!" Layla came over and poked his carrot nose. "How have you been in the Celestial World?"

"Pun! Pu~pun!"

"Aw! You're so cute!"

Lucy giggled. "I know he is!"

"Lucy, Levy, are you guys excited about Fairy Tail staying for a week or so? Even though this is a serious matter, it's still exciting! Don't you think?"

Lucy nodded, "It is! Plue jumped out of my arms and tackled the blue exceed. So, I had to get him and they all saw me. The pink puke-face didn't recognize me as the princess though."

Levy laughed, "The pink puke-face?! Who? The man with pink hair lying on his face and complaining at his friends?"

"Yup!"

"Are you really going to call him that, Sweetie? That's not nice."

"Don't worry, mom, I'm not going to call him that forever, just until I know his name."

"What if his name _is_ the pink puke-face?"

Lucy laughed with her friend as Layla shook her head, "You silly girls…make sure you don't say that to his face or any of his friends in public. It might hurt his feelings."

"Mom, we're not _that_ heartless!" Lucy giggled.

"Is there anyone else you paid attention to besides the pink haired man?" Layla asked.

Lucy hopped up and down, "Oh! I noticed Mirajane Strauss! She's _so_ pretty!"

"I noticed a cute little blunette girl!" Levy smiled, "I wanted to hug her!"

"Me too!"

"I also noticed a tall man with piercings on his face. He had a black exceed standing next to him…He was kinda cute…Don't you think, Lu?"

"I thought a lot of them were cute, but that guy was not one of them," Lucy smiled evilly and intruded Levy's bubble. "Oooo! Levy has a crush!"

Levy shoved Lucy back with a huge blush and jumped up and down flailing her arms at her side. "No, I don't! I don't even know his name!"

Lucy laughed, "I'm just kidding!"

The queen giggled at the scene, "Well, if you two don't mind, I'm going to go check on Makarov and Jude. You two should probably get back to studying!"

Lucy groaned, "I hate math!"

"It's not that bad!" Levy pushed her into the castle.

"That's because you're a wiz at it! The math hates me and I hate it!"

"Pu~!"

"See? Even Plue agrees."

"He does not! You can't tell what he's saying!"

"I'm his owner. Of course I can!"

"Yeah, right!"

Layla watched as they disappeared around the corner before turning and walking toward the office.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Phew! I'm pooped!" Natsu face planted on his assigned bed. He was sharing a room with Happy, Gray, Elfman, Jet, Droy, and Laxus. He was too tired to complain so he just face planted. "Ugh! I'm never riding a train for twelve hours again! Next time, kill me or have me run behind."

"Shut up, Flame Brain! I have to endure sharing a room with you! It's bad enough to be within five feet of you! So, I don't want to hear you!"

"I don't want to hear _either_ of you!" Laxus had already made himself comfortable by throwing his coat on a nearby chair and lying on top of the covers of his assigned bed. He wasn't the only one either, Jet and Droy were already asleep. "I do agree with Natsu though, I'm exhausted as well."

"Ah fonther foo fat flond fix was."

"What was that?" Happy turned to Natsu whose face was berried in his pillow. "I didn't understand you. All I got was 'fat', 'fix', and 'was'."

The pinkette turned and lay on his back, "I said I wonder who that blonde chick was."

"Why?" Happy sat down next to him.

"Because blonde chicks are manly!" Elfman exclaimed, jumping and face planting on his bed, causing a loud squeak.

"Elfman," Laxus started; his eyes were closed, "If you break that bed, not only will the maids be mad, but you'll have to pay for it."

"Listen to the man," Gray unconsciously took his shirt off and threw it behind him somewhere.

"Anyway," Natsu ignored them, "No, Elfman, not because blonde chicks are manly. It just seemed weird there was someone walking around the castle, letting their pet snowmen tackle other people's cats."  
"Scared the crap outta me too!" Happy exclaimed.

"Do you think that was the Lucy, the princess? Erza has told us about her before," Gray asked.

"No," Laxus replied, eyes still closed, "You noticed the way the queen was dressed: crown, jewels, and everything. That girl was dressed like any other person. She even had a whip with her. So, she's not a maid either."

"You're right. That is weird."

The room remained silent for a minute before Natsu blinked and said, "Oh well! I could care less! Good night!" There were loud snores before complaining.

.-.-.-.-.-. somewhere away from Crocus.-.-.-.-.-.

"I must thank you, Erza," Ivan said to himself as he sat against his bed with a dagger. "I didn't think it would be this easy, but you did the dirty work for me…it's only a matter of time now. Just a little bit longer and everything I planned will be fulfilled…" Ivan chuckled and sharpened his dagger. "Alright, Princess Lucille, are you ready for what's coming next?"

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 **Finally! I got it done! I know you all have been waiting patiently, I'm sorry it's late. For some reason, my brother seems to think that it's the perfect time to ask me if we could watch Fairy Tail together after 5 minutes of writing. And I hardly turn down that offer! I got the chapter done though! I hope you'll enjoy it and I'll start writing the next one ASAP!**

 **-zEllie**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! I'm back. I had nothing else to do so I figured I should write you all another chapter. So here ya go! XD**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 8)

Levy stood on a chair in the library, trying to reach for books. It's only been a day since Fairy Tail arrived and all she's been hearing is shouting of spells on the training grounds outside. They've all been training to get stronger in their magic and Levy wanted to do the same. She has Solid Script Magic books and Celestial Magic books in the library, but they were up high on the shelves, hidden from Ivan if he ever walked down the aisle. Lucy had asked her to get the celestial books so she could bring up her magic energy to keep a gate open longer.

"Come on," She muttered, standing on tiptoes. She couldn't help that she was so short! All she had to do was grab six books: three on Celestial Magic and three on Solid Script Magic. That isn't too bad! Right? "Gotcha! Woah!" She grabbed one on Solid Script Magic and lost her footing. She let out a small squeal as she felt herself falling.

…except she didn't land on the floor…

"Oi, Shrimp! Are you okay?"

Levy opened her eyes and found herself staring at pierced, muscular arms. She looked up at the owner and discovered it was the man she and Lucy were talking about yesterday (no, not the pink puke-face).

"Um, thank you…and I'm fine."

The tall dark haired man set Levy down on her feet. "You need to be more careful, Shrimp. You could've gotten hurt."

"Hey! My name is not Shrimp! And I know, I was just trying to get a few books."

The man looked up, "Which ones?"

Levy pointed, "The ones on Celestial Magic and Solid Script Magic."

"All of them?"

"Yeah."

The man with a pierced face grabbed the remaining five books and handed them to her. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Levy walked out of the aisle to a table and set her books down. She turned around to go get the chair, but the man had already picked it up and followed her. "Thank you," She said again and held out her hand when he set it down. "I'm Levy."

The tall man revealed a crooked smile as he took it, "Gajeel."

"Gajeel! There you are! You suddenly disappeared on me!"

Levy turned around and saw a black exceed with a sword on its back flying toward them. She couldn't help, but let an "aww! You're so cute!" escape her lips when he came closer.

Gajeel smiled, "Heh! Sorry Lily, I had to stop Shrimp here from killing herself."

Levy puffed out her cheeks. "It's Levy!" She turned to the exceed. "What's your name?"

"Pantherlily, but some people call me Lily. It's nice to meet you, Levy," The small cat held out his little paw with a smile.

Levy shook it while smiling back, "It's nice to meet you too! So, what are you two doing up here? I figured you'd both be down training with your friends."

Gajeel grunted, "They're not my friends…and we were, but we took a break and looked around the castle."

"I can give you a tour if you'd like."

Pantherlily and Gajeel looked at one another before smiling, "Sounds good."

"Great!" Levy gathered up her books, "Let's go past Lucy's room first. I have to give her some books."

"The princess is a wizard?" Lily asked as he and Gajeel followed Levy into the hallway.

"Yeah. She's a Celestial Wizard."

"Uh…what kinda wizard?"

Levy rolled her eyes, "A Celestial Wizard. She collects keys that summons celestial spirits to fight and defend her. She also uses a whip and Erza is teaching her how to fight with a sword."

"Neat," Gajeel pretended to be interested as he looked at the paintings in the hallway, "What about you? You're a Solid Script Wizard, right?"

"Yeah, how'd ya know?"

"Those books. If the princess uses Celestial Magic I figured you used Solid Script Magic."

"Wow. You're smarter than you look, Gajeel!"

"What's that supposed to mean, Shrimp?!"

Lily and Levy giggled. "Oh nothing," Levy suddenly stopped at a door and knocked on it. There was the sound of footsteps, then the door opened to reveal a tall, beautiful blonde. "Hey Lucy!"

Lucy looked from Gajeel, to Pantherlily, then to Levy before she replied, "Hey Levy!"

"I got the books on Celestial Magic for you," The blunette handed her three books.

"Thanks Levy," Lucy took the books with a smile then looked from Gajeel to Levy again. She gave her a look saying, " _You better tell me about this later!_ "

"Well, I gotta give Gajeel and Lily here a tour! See ya, Lu!"

"See ya!"

Lucy shut the door as the trio began walking again. "So _that's_ who that blonde chick was yesterday," Gajeel wondered out loud. "She let her pet snowman attack Salamander's cat!"

"That was an accident and that was a celestial spirit. Its name is Plue and who is Salamander?"

"The pink haired guy who was puking his guts out yesterday."

"The pink puke-face?" Levy didn't realize she said that until it came out. She slammed her hand against her mouth as Gajeel burst out laughing.

"The pink puke-face?! Nice!"

"Don't tell him I said that!"

"I'm going to call him that for now on!"

"No!"

"Don't worry! I call him a ton of names: Salamander, Flame Brain, Hothead…and now the pink puke-face!" Gajeel laughed loudly.

"Geez, Gajeel! Calm down," Lily rolled his eyes as they arrived in the first room, which happened to be the gallery.

"Okay, whatever. Call him that however many times you want. Just don't say you got it from me."

"Have it your way, Shrimp."

"It's Levy!" Levy stomped her foot, "By the way, this is the gallery. The king, queen, and Lucy love paintings so they have a room full of them."

"Don't they have enough in the hallway?"

Levy shrugged, "Like I said, they love paintings."

As Gajeel, Lily, and Levy made their way to the next room a few minutes later, Levy asked, "So, Gajeel, what kinda magic do you use?"

"I'm the Iron Dragon Slayer."

"Oh! You're a Dragon Slayer?! Cool! So you eat iron?"

"Yup! It tastes good too! Would you like me to share one with you the next time I eat-"

Suddenly, a bell started ringing.

"What the?!" Gajeel looked around.

"The bell? We're under attack?" Levy could feel her heart pounding in fear.

"Gajeel," Pantherlily turned to the Iron Dragon Slayer. "We need to meet up with the others outside the castle. Now."

"Right," Gajeel turned to Levy. "You should get somewhere safe, Shrimp."

"What about you?"

Gajeel smirked as Lily flew ahead. "Don't worry about me. I'm the least of your worries. You should worry about yourself."

With that, Gajeel and Lily took off running down the hall to meet up with the others.

"Be careful…" Levy muttered.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Lucy looked out her window as the bell continued to ring. "Raven Tail is attacking? So soon?" She asked, mainly to herself. She looked down and saw most of Fairy Tail running toward wherever the dark guild was attacking. She happened to see the black exceed and the man Levy was with and wondered if she was okay. " _I better go find her_."

Before she could move however, a hand clamped around her mouth. She let out scream, though it was muffled, and reached for her keys as she was pulled back from the window.

" _My keys are gone…so is my whip…_ "

Whoever had a hold of her, had somehow managed to take off her belt, that held her keys and whip, without her knowing. Lucy didn't have time to dwell on the thought though. She quickly dug through her brain to remember hand-to-hand combat she learned from Erza. She struggled as best as she good, wiggling back and forth and stomping her feet, heel first, trying to find her attacker's feet. She tried to elbow him, but his guy was just too good. She did manage to find his feet and she heard him swear quietly and they fell onto her bed.

Lucy reached behind her and felt his jaw, pushing it upward and away so he had no choice, but to let her go if he didn't want a broken neck. She lunged forward and off of him, turning around to face him.

He was wearing black cloak so Lucy couldn't tell who he was, but he had daggers with him…oh, _so_ many daggers on his belt! Lucy gulped in fear and looked around for her keys. "Dang it! Where are my keys?!"

"I threw them out the window when you weren't looking," The man rubbed his soar neck as she turned around.

Lucy's keys and whip were not on the ground outside her window. Right as she saw that, she realized her stupid mistake.

The man took the hilt of one of his daggers and hit her hard on the back of the head. Lucy fell to her knees with a yelp as her vision blurred. She looked up at him, "W-who are…you?"

The man chuckled evilly and held up his dagger, "Sleep tight, Princess." He hit her again.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Fairy Tail and Raven Tail were head to head in the streets of Crocus. Most of the civilians have fled from the capital, but some were still there. Natsu and Happy soared through the air, looking for any Raven Tail members who were hurting the remaining pedestrians. Of course, there were a lot of Raven Tail members, but there were also a lot of Fairy Tail members as well. So most of Raven Tail was occupied by their friends.

"Argghhh! Happy! Put me down! I wanna fight!"

"You can fight when we find citizens being hurt! Just wait a minute!...Look! There's a few now!"

"Alright! I see em! Drop me, Happy!"

"Aye sir!"

When Happy let go of Natsu, he was plummeting toward the ground with a happy face. "Here we go!" When he was close enough, he lit his hands on fire, "Fire Dragon: Wing Attack!"

There were screams, then silence. Natsu turned to the pedestrians, "Are you guys okay?" He didn't wait for a reply. "You need to get out of here now! Happy, lead them somewhere safe!"

"Aye sir! Follow me!"

Natsu cracked his knuckles as Raven Tail members surrounded them. "You all want some, eh? Come and get some!"

After minutes of fighting, a tall man with a golden mask on, approached him. Natsu cracked his knuckles again and ran toward him. "Fire Dragon: Iron Fist!"

The man launched paper dolls at him, it hit him, but he just chuckled. "Sorry, pal, but paper cuts aren't good enough to stop me!"

Then he was electrocuted. Natsu shouted in a mixture of shock and pain as he fell back, with deep scratches all over his body. "Natsu!" Happy shouted (he had just gotten back from taking the people to safety) as Natsu hit the ground with a thud and looked up.

"I'm Alexei, Raven Tail's master. I think I know what I'm doing."

Natsu smirked and stood back up, wiping a little blood from his mouth, "So you're the master, huh? Great!" He lit his hands on fire, "then I'm the one that gets to teach you a lesson!"

"Natsu!"

Natsu looked up and saw a red haired woman in armor known as Black Wing Armor, flying toward him. Natsu flashed a grin, "Hey Erza!"

"Natsu!" Erza shouted again and landed next to him. She reequipped into Lightning Empress Armor and stared at Alexei with eyes that would've burned a hole through Natsu, but Alexei wasn't fazed. "I need to you go rescue the princess; They kidnapped her. She's probably at Raven Tail's guild hall. It's somewhere on the mountain side outside of Crocus. Go save her! I'll take care of him!"

"Why do I have to save her?! I called dibs on his guy! _You_ go save her!"

"Is this a problem, Natsu?!" Erza turned and directed her stare on Natsu.

Natsu jumped and flinched. "N-no, ma'am! Happy! Let's go!"

"Aye sir!" Happy picked Natsu up and flew toward the direction of the mountains.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 **I hope you liked the GaLe moment at the beginning. I'm finally getting to the plot and hopefully this'll be a little more interesting to you guys! The next chapter is coming soon!**

 **-zEllie**


	9. Chapter 9

**9** **th** **Chapter! Yea! I should be doing my math homework right now, but I don't feel like it and I really want to write this chapter because it's NaLu (kinda)! Anyway, Mom, here's some algebra for you!**

 **Disclaimer: HM = Hiro Mashima. FT = Fairy Tail. ZA = zEllie Anderson  
**

 **HM x FT = ownership.**

 **ZA x FT = not ownership.**

 **ZA does not = HM. They don't add up.**

 **There's some math for you, Mom.**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 9)

Lucy could feel herself coming back to consciousness as she heard voices to the left of her. When she opened her eyes, she immediately shut them due to the light and quietly groaned from the immense throbbing where her kidnapper hit her on her head.

"This is all going _extremely_ well," a voice said, "Master said that he wanted us to hold the princess hostage to get King Jude to surrender. Plus, Fairy Tail is in our clutches. If we use Lucille as bait and the king surrenders, then the hard part will be easy." She heard someone laugh.

"That's true, Black Snake, but I heard that Levy McGarden found out about the kidnap and warned one of the Fairy Tail members. A few of them is probably on their way to save her," another voice said.

"If that's the case, we'll hold them hostage as well," the voice, apparently known as Black Snake, laughed. "Master will be pleased."

Lucy eyes adjusted as she fluttered them open, sat up, and looked around. She was in a cell, and just outside the barred door, to her left, were two Raven Tail members. There was a man in black with black hair, and a woman in a red dress with two red braids coming over her shoulders and tying together in the back. They both had dazed and crazed faces and Lucy pushed herself onto her feet.

"Oh look," the woman said, "Blondie is awake."

"Who are you? And where am I?" Lucy rubbed her head again as she approached the door.

"You're in the Raven Tail guild hall. As for who we are, is none of your business."

Lucy saw her keys and whip behind the two on the table. She began to look around the halls to see if there was anything that'll be able to reach, but nothing looked long enough. "I don't understand why you guys want to rule Fiore. I get that you want control and power, but if you truly wanted that, you would've attacked us sooner."

"You have a point, Blondie. We didn't attack earlier because we didn't have enough members who wanted the same thing as we do."

"All dark dragon hunting guilds want the same thing. Couldn't you have just allied with one of them if that was the case?"

Black Snake and the woman looked at one another. "You're as smart as you are pretty, Princess. You know that right?"

Lucy ignored the statement, "What is your true intention?"

Lucy was sure they wouldn't come out and say it, but it didn't matter if they did or not because they didn't get a chance to open their mouths. There was a loud bang somewhere in the guild hall and Black Snake and the woman ran off toward the noise. Lucy found this as the perfect opportunity to pull her dagger from her boot.

" _I better hurry before they come back,_ " she thought as her reached through the bars of the door and stuck her dagger in the hole. She reached back behind her head and pulled out a bobby-pin, sticking it in the hole as well above her dagger. Erza taught her how to pick locks, but she wasn't very experienced. If only she had her keys! Then she could summon Virgo to dig a hole and get out. "Come on!" Lucy hissed as she fiddled around with the lock. "Open up!"

She heard another explosion and laughter. "That was easy! Wasn't it, Happy?!"

"Aye!"

"Yo, Princess! Where are you?!"

Lucy smiled and looked down the hall where her rescuers' voices were. "I'm over here!" She pulled her dagger and bobby-pin from the lock, sliding the knife in her boot and sticking the pin in her hair as running footsteps came down the hall and stopped at her door.

Lucy blinked, " _It's the pink puke-face..._ "

The pink puke-face seemed to have a similar reaction as Lucy did. She was blushing though, unlike him. The first time she saw him, he was lying face first on the pavement outside the castle. If she thought he was attractive then, he was _definitely_ now. The pavement concealed his six-pack abs and she was too busy staring at his handsome face and onyx eyes to pay attention to his muscular arms. Now that he was standing up, you could see every handsome detail that any girl couldn't ignore, even if they wanted to.

Again, the pink puke-face's reaction was similar to Lucy's (except he wasn't blushing). He blinked in surprise as well and observed her. "I know you!" He pointed, "You're the girl from yesterday who let her pet snowman tackle Happy!" _This_ is the princess?! She was wearing a short skirt, tight tank top, and boots. She didn't even have a crown on! And if he remembered right, from yesterday, she had a whip with her too. She was nothing like a princess.

"That was an accident!" Lucy immediately defended herself (and Plue). "I'm really sorry about that!"

Natsu crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow and ignored her, "You're Lucy?"

"Yeah."

"You don't dress like a princess."

Lucy blushed heavier as his eyes trailed over her. "Are you really going to accuse me on how I dress right now?! Get me out of here first!"

Natsu rolled his eyes and muttered, "Geez, you certainly demand like a princess." But Lucy could hear it. She growled quietly and obeyed his order to stand back. "Fire Dragon: Iron Fist!"

Lucy shielded her face from flying metal as the door burst open. She blinked and fanned in front of her get clear the smoke. The pink puke-face stood in the doorway and looked at her. "Now can I accuse you?"

Lucy rolled her eyes and groaned, pushing past him. "No! Where's that blue cat of yours?"

"How'd ya know I had a blue cat?"

"I saw him yesterday. Remember?"

"Right, right," The pink puke-face rolled his eyes. "He's down the hall."

The duet began walking down the hall before Lucy suddenly stopped, "My keys!" She exclaimed, turned around, and ran back. The pink puke-face raised an eyebrow as he watched her, " _her keys?..._ "

Lucy came back and stopped next to him, putting her belt on that held her whip and ring of gold and silver keys. The pink puke-face let his eyes trail her again before he came up with a reason for why she dressed like this when she was a princess, "you're a weirdo. You know that right?"

Lucy snapped her eyes up at him with her mouth opened. " _Sorry mom, but he called me a weirdo_." "Oh yeah? Well, you're a pink puke-face!"

She didn't know whether he was actually offended or just pretending. She didn't care though, she stuck her nose in the air and walked past him.  
"That's mean! Happy! She called me a pink puke-face!"

Lucy then noticed the flying cat beside him. They were at the end of a hallway that revealed a room that was too destroyed to tell what it was. It seems the pink puke-face and the cat crashed through the ceiling which meant they'd have to find a different way out. Black Snake and the woman were knocked out on the floor. Lucy turned to the pink puke-face to reply, "Well, you called me a weirdo."

"That's because of the way you dress when you're a princess!"

"Well, when I first saw you yesterday, you were motion sick and puking your lunch out onto the sidewalk!"

The pink puke-face stuttered before giving up.

Lucy turned around to look at him as he was pouting and staring at the wall next to his cat. He may be hot, but he was meaner than Ivan. Lucy knew she was weird, but Ivan never came right up and said it to her. "What's your name anyway?"

He looked at her. "Natsu," he huffed with a glare and then pointed toward the cat. "That's Happy."

"Aye! I like fish!...but not snowmen that tackle me!"

Lucy stomped her foot, "That was an accident, Cat! At least, I got Plue off of you!"

"You're noisy!" Happy, just like Natsu, came right out and said it.

"And weird…and mean," Natsu added.

Lucy groaned and stomped away, "Whatever!"

"The exit is not that way, Princess Luigi!"

Lucy spun back around to face Natsu and Happy. "It's Lucy! And if the exit isn't that way, then where is it?!"

Natsu huffed and looked at her, apparently still mad, but a smile grew on his face. "I won't tell you until you apologize," Natsu felt victorious. He figured, since he and Happy knew the way out of here (and Happy wouldn't tell her because he's his best friend), she'd have to leave through him. Lucy wouldn't be able to leave without his help and they'd most likely run into more Raven Tail guards (most of them were in Crocus fighting, but some remained here to guard Lucy) and he would have to defend her.

However, Lucy was different.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to find the way out myself," Lucy mimicked Natsu's victorious face and walked away.

Natsu gapped, now feeling defeated, "B-but you'll run into Raven Tail wizards!"

"I'm a wizard myself too, you know!"

Natsu gapped even wider. Not only did the princess dress in whatever she wanted, she was also a wizard. She was feisty and wasn't afraid to snap at anyone, even if it was someone hired from her father. She lived by her own set of rules: carefree, full of energy, determined, and venturous…just like Fairy Tail.

Natsu liked that about her…

Happy seemed to read Natsu's mind as a smile grew on the dragon slayer's face. "You liiiiike her, don't you?"

Natsu's smile disappeared and the glared at Happy. "Shut up! I do not!"

Happy puffed out his cheeks and covered his mouth, "Sure…"

Natsu growled, "Come on let's catch up with her before she gets in trouble."

It didn't take long for the two to catch up with the blonde. Lucy turned quickly around with a hand on her weird collection of keys on her belt when she heard footsteps, but relaxed when she saw them. "Oh, it's just you two."

"Is this thanks we get for saving you?" Happy flew by her as Natsu walked on the other side with his hands behind his head.

"I would've gotten out myself."

"Sure you would've."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I _would've!_ "

"So, what kinda wizard are you?"

"I'm a Celestial Wizard."

"Oooo, cool…what's that?"

Lucy groaned, muttered "stupid cat", and walked a little faster. Natsu watched her and commented, "Why're you always so mean and grumpy? Erza always says nice things about you so I figured you'd be like an angel or something."

Lucy turned around and walked backwards. "Erza talks about me?"

"Yeah."

"What does she say?"

"Nice things, but you seem to prove them all wrong."

Lucy opened her mouth to reply, but she tripped on debris behind her. She let out a squeal and waited for her butt to hit the hard ground, but instead, strong arms wrapped around her waist and she stopped moving. Lucy opened her eyes and found herself in the arms of Natsu with their faces a couple inches apart. He was staring into her eyes and Lucy could see every perfect detail in his face. His hot breath hit her face, causing her to blush and out of panic, put her hands on his face and shoved him back, turning around to hide the heat in her cheeks from him and Happy.

"Gee, you're welcome, Princess!" Natsu sarcastically remarked as he rubbed his neck.

"Don't call me that! It's Lucy!" She snapped without turning around.

Natsu rolled his eyes and repeated, again, sarcastically, "Gee, you're welcome, _Lucy_!"

" _Why does he have to be so hot?_ " Lucy silently asked herself.

Natsu and Happy looked at one another as Lucy walked ahead. "What's her problem?"

"How should I know?"

"I can hear you guys!" Lucy shouted from ahead.

Natsu and Happy shrugged and followed her.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

When the trio finally arrived in Crocus, the battle was over and civilians were rebuilding their homes. Natsu, Lucy, and Happy gapped at the debris and chaos two dragon hunting guilds had caused.

"Wow," Lucy exclaimed, "This place is a mess! I guess that's what happens when the whole Fairy Tail guild fights in a city."

Natsu turned to her, "What did you say?!"

Lucy didn't seem threatened when he lit his hands on fire. She didn't even look at him, "I didn't mean that as an insult to Fairy Tail. I was just saying Fairy Tail is a destructive guild so I saw this coming. I actually really look up to your guild so I wouldn't just insult them like that." Lucy then turned to Natsu who calmed down and put the fire out on his hands. "I would insult you though."

Natsu gapped at her as she walked toward the castle. " _What is her deal?!_ "

They arrived at the castle a few minutes later and Lucy stopped within the gates and gasped. Since Natsu and Happy were behind her, they didn't see what she was looking at until they caught up to her. "What are you…" Natsu stopped when he saw all his friends, lying wounded all around the yard. Most of them were unconscious and wrapped in bandages, but they were pretty bad.

"Carla!" Happy flew over to the white cat who was lying next to a Pantherlily.

"What happened?" Natsu gapped as he ran over and lifted the unconscious Romeo's head. He had major scrapes.

"What do you think? A battle!" Lucy was lifting the head of a white short haired girl that looked like Mirajane. The girl had many scrapes as well.

"I know that, genius!" Natsu snapped, "But why is every single one of them all so bruised and beaten?! It's never been this bad before!"

There were footsteps and the trio looked up to see the young blunette girl Lucy wanted to hug yesterday. She was wrapped in bandages and got on her knees in front of the first person she got to, which happened to be Mirajane…she looked absolutely _exhausted_ …

"Wendy!" Natsu exclaimed, causing her to look at him.

She smiled and exclaimed, "Oh Natsu! Thank goodness you're okay! I was beginning to worry!" She hovered her hands over Mirajane's body and a blue aura came out.

"What happened, Wendy?! Why is everyone like this?"

Wendy shook her head to stop the tears. "There was a man…I think his name was Obra…he uses a type of lost magic that instantly drains magic energy. He did that on us one by one and we all went down. Raven Tail should've won this battle, but Erza beat their master, Alexei, before Obra got to her. So we won, but it came at a price."

"How is Erza?" Lucy asked, laying the woman she was holding in her hands gently on the ground and walked over to Wendy.

"Her magic energy isn't drained, but she's in just as bad of shape as the rest of us." Wendy suddenly past out and Lucy was able to catch her before she landed on Mirajane.

"Wendy!" Natsu exclaimed and went over to her.

Lucy handed her to the dragon slayer and asked, "Will she be okay?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine; she just used too much of her magic. In fact, they'll all be fine," A woman in red with pink hair came around the corner of the castle. She had bandages in her one hand and healing potions in the other.

"Porlyusica!" Natsu exclaimed.

"It may take a few weeks, but they'll all be back to their normal selves soon. I suggest you two," she pointed to Natsu and Happy, "take Princess Lucy to the king and queen while I take care of Fairy Tail."

Natsu carefully laid the exhausted Wendy onto the ground and grabbed Lucy's arm rather harshly, but she didn't stop him. It wasn't because he had a vein popping out on his forehead, but because she was just as upset as he was.

"Raven Tail…they'll pay for this!"

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 **And yea! Chapter 9 is here! I hope you enjoyed this. Yes, I know, Natsu and Lucy were mean to each other, but I personally think that all good love stories start with the two hating each other then ending up falling in love. So, that's what I'm going to do. Don't worry though! They'll get together I promise!**

 **-zEllie**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Remember my algebra from the previous chapter? Yup, same thing here. FT doesn't belong to ZA and ZA is me. FT belongs to HM.**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 10)

It has been two weeks since the battle and Fairy Tail had been nursed back to health one by one thanks to Porlyusica and Wendy. Levy sat on the ground with a few books around her and one in her hand as Lucy sat at her window staring down at the members of Fairy Tail, she watched Natsu pick a fight with the half-naked black haired man and the man Levy was with that one day. She watched Happy try to give a fish to the white exceed and etc. She was oblivious to Levy's rambling over a random romance novel.

"…It was so sweet, Lu! He gave her flowers and…are you even listening to me?!"

Lucy ripped her eyes from the dragon hunting guild she looked up to and turned to her best friend, "Hmm? What?"

Levy sighed and shook her head. "Never mind. What's with you recently? Ever since the pink puke-face saved you from Raven Tail, you've been dozing off."

"His name is Natsu and he doesn't have anything to do with that. I've just been worried, that's all."

"You're afraid Raven Tail will kidnap you again?"

"No, I could've escaped myself…I've just been worried about Fairy Tail. I mean, there were all beaten and bruised for the last two weeks."

"I know, but they're awesome, remember?" Levy laughed and got up, walking over to her friend. She sat next to Lucy and looked out the window. "This is Fairy Tail we're talking about. They're fine!"

"I know." Lucy turned to the blunette. "So, you never really told me about that man that was with you two weeks ago. What was that about?"

"Well, I was in the library getting those books on Celestial Magic and Solid Script Magic. He happened to be in here and I offered to give him a tour. His name is Gajeel. His cat's name is Pantherlily." Levy pointed at the two as she spoke.

"Oh…I was pretty curious when I saw him behind you."

"Yeah I told him I had to stop by your room."

There was a moment of silence between the two friends before Lucy asked, "What do you think will happen now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, is Fairy Tail going to go back to Magnolia or something? They fought a battle for us and almost all of them were severely injured…Do you think they'll take their reward and go home?"

Levy remained silent and looked out the window again at Fairy Tail, sighing. "…I don't know. I'm not the king."

"Isn't my father talking to the Master of Fairy Tail right now?"

"Yeah I think so. It's about the battle, but that's all I know."

There suddenly came a knock at the door. Instead of getting up, Lucy shouted, "Come in!" and silently prayed with Levy that it wasn't Ivan.

Lucky for them, it was Erza.

"Hey Erza!" Levy exclaimed with a smile. "How're your wounds?"

"They're healed now," Erza let out a smile, but put a serious face on. "I have news…"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"My deepest apologies, Makarov," King Jude commented when his office door shut.

"You don't need to apologize, Your Majesty. It was a hard battle, especially with this 'Obra'. We delivered them an equal amount of wounds." Makarov was wounded himself, but not as much as the rest of Fairy Tail. He sat in front of Jude's desk on a comfy chair and tried not to feel threatened by the king's height.

"Makarov, you're too kind…but I called you here to talk about another matter. No, the war isn't over, but your guild did fight a battle for me. I was wondering if I should give you the reward and send you on your way. My advisor is out right now so I wanted to ask you about it."

Makarov nodded, "I understand, Your Highness…and I want to apologize because I had sent Bisca and Alzack, a few of the members of the guild, out to spy on Raven Tail's guild hall without your permission. It seems all of Raven Tail has moved far north to train for a few months."

"They have? Have they already left?"

"Yes, Your Highness. I see that you and your family will be safe for the time being and my children need to rest and pay their rents. It might not be the best thing, but I suggest that we take our leave back to Magnolia. You don't have to pay us at the moment, but if the war starts back up again, we'll gladly come back."

The king relaxed in his chair as he processed the words in his head. "Okay," he finally nodded. "I agree with you. You and your guild may go back to Magnolia, but on one condition, I want proof that Raven Tail is far north training and I want to know _how_ far north. I trust your word, Makarov, but I would like evidence."

"I understand, Your Majesty. I'll send Bisca and Alzack again."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"What?" Lucy blinked. "Raven Tail went north, so Fairy Tail is going back to Magnolia?"

"Yes," Erza responded, "but your father wants proof of this. We'll most likely be leaving in no less than two days. I heard that you two became friends with Natsu and Gajeel. You might want to hang out with them a little while before they leave."

Levy scratched her head, "I wouldn't call Gajeel and I 'friends', but we did talk and I got to know him."

Lucy crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, "Natsu and I aren't even near friends…"

"Well," Erza turned around and started toward the door, "whatever…I was just saying that we were going to leave soon. I have to take care of something, I'll see you two soon."

"Bye Erza!"

Erza shut the door and walked down a hall, maids backed up as the sight of her serious face, " _I think it's time I checked those documents out in Ivan's room…but first, I'll find Master._ "

It didn't take long, Erza turned a corner a few minutes later and saw Master Makarov walking down the hall toward the training grounds where the rest of Fairy Tail was. He saw her and waved with a smile. "Hello, Erza."

"Master," Erza approached him, "How are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I was wondering something…"

"Yes?"

Erza looked left and right and lowered her voice. "A few weeks ago, I was spying on Ivan and happened to hear and see a few things."

Master Makarov lowered his voice as well. "Go on…"

"I heard him telling Obra to keep training before the time has come, which I presume he meant the war…I think Ivan is somehow involved with Raven Tail…in fact, I'm sure of it."

Makarov looked toward the wall, "I see…"

"I also saw a lot of paper in his room. I don't know for sure, but they look like documents. I didn't get close enough to look at them, so I wanted to do that today and I wanted your permission."

"Yes," he replied immediately, "you have my permission. Just be quick, quiet, and careful."

"I will, Master."

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It didn't take long for Erza to find Ivan's room. She didn't know for sure if he was here for not. Ivan hasn't shown his face since Fairy Tail arrived two weeks ago, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful. Once she was certain the room was silent and nobody was in there, she quickly picked the lock without the maids down the hall noticing.

She quickly close the door and turned on the light. There was just as much or maybe even more paper than there was before. Erza didn't know where to start. It _all_ looked important and she probably won't even get half of it looked at. Erza just turned to her right and started with the nearest document.

" _Hold on…these aren't documents…they're battle strategies…_ " Erza looked at the next sheet of paper and glanced around at the rest. " _They all are…is Ivan a member of Raven Tail? I didn't see him at the battle a couple weeks ago…_ " Erza took the two she had in her hand and began looking over them.

Erza couldn't tell which battle strategy was the real one. They were all different and some of them even stopped in the middle of the sentence like Ivan just gave up and threw it behind him. There was something that caught her eye that she took a closer look at, but this was not a battle strategy. It was a letter, a reply letter to be specific. It said this:

"Ivan,

We received orders to move up far north where Fairy Tail wouldn't be able to find us. You told us to train so the next battle we have, we would be able to win. Fairy Tail has gotten larger and stronger over the past few years and we want to know if we plan on getting more members. We will see you up north.

-Flare"

The message was rather short and straight to the point, but it was enough proof Master Makarov and the king needed. All the Erza really needed now was…

Suddenly, the door opened.

Erza thanked her quick instincts and ducked underneath a table with a pile of papers on it. She tried to even her breathing when the footsteps drew nearer to her.

She happened to peek through a crack between the top of the table and a pile of paper. It was Spetto, a maid. Great, how is Erza going to get out of here now?!

She looked toward the window for a way out, but they were even blocked by paper, or too far away. Erza than looked toward the door and realize how close she was. If Spetto turned her back for a specific amount of time, she could make a run for it and get out.

She waited as Spetto moved some of the paper to clean…wait…wait…now!

Erza got up and darted through the open door and stopped right outside it, leaning her back against the wall and trying to calm her heartbeat. Inside, Spetto didn't shout her name or "intruder!" so she knew that she was able to get out undetected. With a silent sigh, Erza quickly and quietly ran away from the door, down a couple flights of stairs toward the training grounds to find Master Makarov.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. the next day.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Come in," King Jude spoke after a knock was sounded at the door of his office. In came Master Makarov. He bowed respectfully and sat down in a chair after the king's consent to rise was given.

"Hello, Your Majesty. I have the proof you wanted: a map of where Raven Tail would be training in the north, this was at the guild hall…" Makarov handed it to Jude, "…and a letter…Erza found this in your advisor's room."

"My advisor?!" The king exclaimed. "Hand me the letter."

When Makarov handed the letter to the king, he quickly read it through. Jude then looked up and seemed to be in deep thought. He reread it again and again before finally turning to Makarov who was waiting patiently.

"Why?" was all that came out of his mouth, "Why?...Ivan was behind this?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but it seems that way. Erza and I talked a bit and we came to a conclusion that Ivan is not the master of Raven Tail because Erza had fought Alexei who told us that he was the master. However, we seem to believe that he's a member, but neither of us understand why he's giving orders if he's not the master…he might be second in command."

"I see, Makarov," the king paused. "When my advisor comes back to the palace, I'll have a word with him about this. You and your guild may go home, but once this war starts back up, you'll need to come back."

"Understood, Your Majesty," Makarov stood up, but before leaving he said, "Listen, Fairy Tail will protect you and your family no matter the costs. We can promise you that, Your Highness. We will defeat Raven Tail and get to the bottom of this mess."

Jude smiled, "Thank you."

Makarov walked toward the door, but before he was able to touch the knob, the king stood up, "Makarov."

He turned around, "Yes?"

"I have come to see that I can completely trust you and your guild and I'm afraid for what will happen next. I was wondering if it was okay with you to take my daughter into your guild and protect her for the time being. Her instructor will have to go with her as well to help her with her studies."

"Of course, Your Highness. we will gladly protect your daughter as much as we can."

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 **Phew! *whips sweat off forehead* that's done. This isn't exactly my favorite chapter, but it's satisfying. YEA! I'M FINALLY GETTING TO THE GOOD PART WHERE I CAN WRITE NALU AND GALE AND GRUVIA! Sorry, I'm getting excited…**

 **-zEllie**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 11)

" _Wow…_ " Lucy's eyes shined brightly as she glanced around the room. Levy beside her, had the same look with a smile. " _I'm actually standing in the Fairy Tail guild hall…_ "

Things had quickly turned restless as soon as everyone came through the front doors of the guild hall. Lucy and Levy figured it was normal as Erza split up the ones who had started it (Natsu and Gray obviously). They gazed in awe at the huge, beautiful guild hall while standing at the entrance like idiots.

"Princess Lucille," Lucy looked to her left and nearly died when she saw Mirajane.

"Mirajane!" Lucy hopped up and down and flailing her arms at the side. "Oh my gosh! I'm such a huge fan of yours! I read Sorcerer Weekly and…" When Lucy finally finished her rant and caught her breath, she blushed in embarrassment and scratched the back of her head. "I'm sorry…I got a little carried away…"

Mirajane giggled, "It's fine. I didn't think you'd be such a fan of me, Your Highness. I'm flattered."  
"Oh, you can just call me Lucy, Mirajane," Lucy said with a huge smile. She was still trying to calm down. "I prefer Lucy."

"Okay, Lucy, and you can just call me Mira."

The two smiled as Levy was still gazing in awe. "Oh! I forgot!" Mira laughed at herself and gestured to the guild hall. "Welcome to Fairy Tail! As you can see, we're pretty destructive, but we're warm-hearted and open with one another…even if it doesn't seem like it."

"Oh, I think it's awesome!" Lucy gazed around the loud room again. There were already a few broken tables and a whole group of people brawling. "Wow! I really look up to this guild so this is kinda a dream come true!"

"Really? Wow, I guess we're pretty popular with the royal family, huh?!"

Lucy laughed, "I guess so. I've been wanting to join since I've first heard about it."

"You've been wanting to join? Are you a wizard?"

"Yup!" Lucy patted her ring of keys on her belt. "I'm a Celestial Wizard!"

"How cool!" Mira smiled, "Here, let me show you to your room. We have a couple of guest rooms upstairs if anybody happened to stay here."

"Is Levy and I sharing a room?"

"No, but you can if you want to."

"Oh, no. I was just wondering."

Lucy turned and poked the still awe-stricken Levy. She jumped and looked at Lucy. "Huh?"

"Mira is taking us to our rooms."

"Oh," Levy picked up her suitcase, followed by Lucy, and allowed Mira to lead the way upstairs. They dodged fire, metal, ice, and a few chairs until they were on the second floor where it was peaceful.

Mira opened the first door to the right. Levy claimed it and went in, saying that she'll unpack and maybe take a nap from the twelve hour trip from Crocus to Magnolia. Mira then opened the next door down and let Lucy in.

It wasn't anything compared to her monstrous room back at the palace, but it was cozy, clean, and small. The bed had baby blue sheets on it that looked comfortable to the touch. The walls were a light shade of gray with wooden floors and white furniture. There were three windows as well.

"I know it's not what you're used to, but-"

"It's perfect," Lucy turned to Mira and smiled. "Thanks, Mira."

Mira smiled, "I'll let you unpack and freshen up. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"I won't."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Oh, Plue! Isn't this amazing?!" Lucy jumped up and down in excitement as the trembling snowman sat on her bed with a smile. "I'm not just in the Fairy Tail guild hall, I'm going to _live_ in the Fairy Tail guild hall! Of course it's temporary, but still!"

"Pu~Pun!"

"Plue, look in here! I even have my own bathroom!" Lucy walked in and lay her toothbrush with it's toothpaste by the sink. "I wonder if Levy has her own too. Do you think so?" She walked back out and turned to her spirit.

"Pu~!"

Lucy giggled, pushing her now empty suitcase under her bed. She then collapsed on the baby blue sheets and stared at the ceiling. Plue crawled over to her and snuggled against her arm. Lucy hugged him with a smile, "I can't wait to meet everyone! The only people I know are Erza, Mira, Natsu, and Happy. At the same time, I'm a little nervous too. What if they don't like me?...I know Natsu and Happy don't, but that's okay because I don't like them either..."

As she huffed in annoyance, Plue suddenly stood up. "Pun! Pu~!"  
"You have to go back now? Okay," Lucy smiled and waved, "I'll see you later, Plue!"

Plue disappeared and left Lucy alone to herself. She decided to leave her room and knocked on Levy's. "Levy? You in there?"

There was no answer so Lucy figured she was asleep. She gulped down her nervousness and took a deep breath. As long as she doesn't make a fool of herself (or get hit in the head by a flying chair), she'll be fine. Lucy walked down the stairs around the corner toward the main entrance where everyone was. People had calmed down from the fight, except for Natsu and the black haired man that was always half-naked. Lucy looked around at everybody and gapped when she saw Levy. So she wasn't asleep; she was with Gajeel and Pantherlily at a table and didn't seem to notice Lucy's presence.

"Traitor," Lucy muttered and looked away. " _What do I do?_ "

"Um…You're Highness…"

Lucy turned and saw Wendy curtsying in an adorable manner. She was so nervous and adorable at the same time; Lucy couldn't help but let a smile surface. "Hi Wendy!"

Wendy blushed nervously, "You know my name?"

Lucy nodded. "We saw each other a couple weeks ago when you were healing people. Don't you remember?"

Wendy then nodded. "Right, that was you. I never really introduced myself. So, um…it's nice to meet you, Princess Lucille."

"It's nice to meet you too…and you can just call me Lucy. You don't have to bow or say 'you're highness' or anything."

"Are you sure?"

Lucy nodded and smiled, hoping to relax the tension in Wendy's muscles. She must be nervous to talk to royalty.

"Um okay then. This is Carla by the way," Wendy pointed to the white exceed who was right next to them. She seemed to be too busy telling Happy she didn't like fish to notice Lucy was there. "And the blue cat is Happy."

"I know. He and Natsu rescued me from Raven Tail so I already know them."

"Huh?" Happy turned and looked at the two girls when they said his name. "Oh! Looney! It's you!"

Carla gasped, "Happy! That's-"

"It's Lucy," Lucy interrupted. "Not Looney and it's good to see you too," She puffed out her cheeks in a pout.

"I forgot you were going to stay here for a while. Ever since Natsu found out you were staying with us, he's been grumpy. He's been giving you looks since you came in."

Lucy looked around the room and saw Natsu sitting across the room next to a brunette chugging down beer or whatever was in the barrel down her throat. He wasn't looking at Lucy; he was just staring at the table.

"He has ultra dragon hearing so he can probably hear our conversation and looked away when I mentioned him," Happy continued while Lucy watched him. "He _was_ just looking at you though."

"Ultra dragon hearing?"

"Aye! He's a dragon slayer!"

Lucy turned back at the trio in front of her. "Oh yeah…I saw him using dragon slayer magic when he saved me. I didn't really think of that until now." She was talking, mainly to herself, but Wendy replied anyway.

"I'm a dragon slayer as well, but I don't have a good as hearing as Natsu."

"You're a dragon slayer too?" Lucy smiled, "Wow! You're pretty young for a dragon slayer so that's impressive!"

Wendy smiled proudly and Lucy could tell she was relaxing. "Princess-I mean Lucy, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Why do you have a ring of gold and silver keys on your belt?"  
"Oh!" Lucy giggled, "I'm actually a wizard myself." Wendy and Carla gapped as Lucy continued, I can summon spirits from the celestial spirit realm to fight and defend me. It's called Celestial Magic."

"Wow!" Carla smiled, "I didn't think you'd be a wizard, Princess."

Lucy smiled, "Call me Lucy."

"I see you four and getting along well!"

Lucy, Wendy, Carla, and Happy turned around to see Mira behind them with a plate of food in her hands. She handed it to a man who was painting a picture. "Merci, Mira!" He said and she smiled at him.

"Don't hog her to yourselves!" Mira joked around as stepped away from the painter and approached them. "I know that Lisanna has been wanting to meet her. A few others might want to as well."

"I can go talk to her now," Lucy smiled. One of the things she loved, was to meet new people. Since she rarely got out of the castle walls back in Crocus, meeting new people was like winning 1,000,000J to her. "Where is she?"

"She's over there," Wendy pointed to the bar. Lucy noticed it was the girl she was holding in her arms after Natsu and Happy brought her back to the castle and saw almost every Fairy Tail member unconscious and hurt.

"She looks like you, Mira."

"That's because she's my little sister."

"I didn't know you had a little sister."

"The big guy over there is her brother," Happy pointed, "the large guy next to Evergreen, the girl with brown hair. His name is Elfman."

"I see em."

Lucy left shortly and made her way toward the bar where Lisanna sat at while drinking a shake.

"Excuse me."

Lisanna looked up from her shake and turned around as her eyes widened when she saw Lucy. "Y-yeah?"

"You're Lisanna, right?"

"Yeah, and you're Princess Lucille?"

"Just Lucy, please," Lucy smiled. "May I sit?"

Lisanna almost laughed. The Princess of Fiore is asking _her_ if she can _sit_?! "Of course!"

Lucy sat down. "It's nice to meet you! Your sister told me you wanted to meet me so I came over."

Lisanna and Lucy talked about anything and everything. Lisanna showed her around the large guild hall and talked about all the activities and jobs they do. Lisanna had just finished talking about dragon hunting (when it should be called beast hunting) when suddenly voices and footsteps were coming down the hall, closer to them.

Lisanna gasped.

"What?!" Lucy looked at her. Was something bad going to happen?

"Come here!" The white haired female pulled Lucy over toward a table and got down.

"What is it?" Lucy asked again, but the people the voices and footsteps belonged to, came into view and stopped.

"Leave me alone, Juvia."

"But Darling, I want to go on a date."

"Not right now; I'm busy."

Lucy turned to Lisanna and whispered as quiet as she could, "Who are they?"

Lisanna kept her eyes on the pair, but replied, "That's Gray and Juvia. They're in love with each other, but Gray doesn't wanna admit it. The whole guild has been waiting forever for them to get together! Maybe they'll kiss here! Let's see."

Lucky for Lisanna and Lucy, they were far away enough for Gray and Juvia not to hear them. Since Lucy's read every romance she could get her hands on, she was a little excited to witness a kiss. Even if it didn't happen, these two _had_ to get together! They were adorable! Lucy smiled and prayed silently that they'd become a couple.

"I don't understand," Juvia looked down, causing Gray to look at her. "Whenever you're too busy to go to dinner, I would leave you alone, but whenever I see that you're free and I ask you, you always say you're busy. I don't understand."

"Juvia," The look on Juvia's face said sadness and distress. Lucy and Lisanna could clearly see that Gray was upset by what he had said. "Look…I just…I've been getting this strange feeling and need some time to think about it."

Lisanna and Lucy gasped, but thankfully at the same time as Juvia, so their cover wasn't blown.

"A feeling?! You feel something for me?!"

"Uh…not like that…" It was true: Gray had feelings for Juvia. Even though she's a little weird, Gray had always thought she was pretty. Every time she changed her hair and outfit, she got even prettier. It was just a small crush, unlike what Juvia felt for him. He just felt embarrassed to reveal it in public like she did. For a while though, Gray could feel it growing stronger inside and he doesn't know if he could hide it any longer. He's been thinking if he should just admit it or keep it in, and that was the feeling he was talking about.

There _was_ one thing Gray was positive he didn't have to worry about: that if he confessed, his love would be returned. This was rare when it came to love stories.

"Then what do you mean?" Juvia asked, interrupting Gray's thoughts.

"Well…"

Gray watched Juvia's face. Her eyes had a glint of hope in them and her cheeks here slightly pink. Her lips were in the shape of a small o and Gray just couldn't help himself. The next thing he, Juvia, Lisanna, or Lucy knew was that his hands were on her cheeks and their lips were an inch away.

Gray snapped out of it at the last moment.

"I…gotta go. I'll see you later," He pulled away and walked around the corner, hiding his red face (but doing a terrible job).

Juvia was beyond happy. She squealed and ran in the opposite direction as Gray, on her way to tell Mira the Matchmaker what had happened.

Lisanna and Lucy came out of their hiding spot with a smile.

"Oh my gosh…" Lisanna put her hands to her mouth. "Oh my gosh…"

Lucy squealed, "He _does_ love her!"

"Oh I can't wait until they get together!"

The two girls squealed, hugged, and laughed. Lucy smiled at the white haired beauty with only one thought running through her head, " _I love this guild!_ "

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 **Ta-da! It's done! I'm sorry it came late, my brothers kept asking me to watch Fairy Tail after my homework with them again…sorry! I just want to say that I love Lisanna and LuLi friendship. Just because you ship NaLu so hard (like me XD), doesn't mean you have to hate Lisanna and vice versa. Many people think that so I just want to make it clear. I also love the steam friendship (steam is Natsu and Gray. Apparently, that's what their called. I got it from a youtuber group, "Unison Raid Cosplay Group". They're awesome, go check them out!). I think that Natsu and Gray would be the best of friends if they put their hearts in it. Like that one time when they were training for the Grand Magic Games at the beach: "Swimming contest! Sand castle building contest! Eating Contest! Sun Tanning contest!" Lol! I'm getting off topic! Sorry! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and there's your Gruvia moment and more to come, Blue Star! XD**

 **-zEllie**


	12. Chapter 12

**It's been a while since I've posted another chapter, so I figured I should write one. XD I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 12)

It took a week for Lucy to memorize everyone's names and that same week to get everyone to realize that Lucy didn't want to be called "princess". She warmed up to the members of Fairy Tail and they began to treat her as one of their own even though she wasn't.

Lucy sighed and turned left to look at the Fairy Tail emblem on a man named Nab. Nab and she were currently standing in front of the request board. Lucy wanted to see the difference between two jobs that caught her eye. One said, "Guard a valuable jewel overnight in a museum for 400,000J" and another said the exact same thing for 800,000J. She wanted to see what the difference was, but she got lost in her own world quickly.

"What are you looking at, Lucy?"

Lucy flinched in surprise and looked up at Nab's dark face. "Sorry, Nab. I was just looking at your Fairy Tail emblem. I think it looks cool." It wasn't a lie, she _did_ think it looked cool…and she _wanted_ one. Just because she was living here didn't mean she's a member. Lucy only told Levy how she felt about this and was happy to see that she wasn't the only one. They both wanted to join the guild.

"Then join," Lucy had said, tearing her attention away from her history book to look her best friend in the eyes. "If you want to join, then you should."

"I can't," Levy had replied. "I'm your teacher. I work and live in Crocus, not Magnolia."

"Then quit the job and move here."

"No way! I'm not leaving you alone with Ivan! _He'd_ probably be your next teacher if I quit. Besides, you're my best friend and you know I hate goodbyes."

"But I want you to be happy, Levy. You gave me courage that night when you stood up for me against Ivan. I'll stand up for myself. If that doesn't work, I'll go to my parents. I'll be fine."

"No, Lu! When I join Fairy Tail, you will be joining with me."

Lucy had shaken her head and giggled sadly. "Levy, I'm the Princess of Fiore. It just wouldn't work out. I'll never be able to join _any_ guild."

"Then I guess I'll never be able to either."

"But Levy-"

"When I join, you join. End of discussion. Now let's get back to history."

Lucy smiled at the memory. She was happy she had such a good friend - and was making more even though she'd probably never see them again after the war with Raven Tail ended.

"Why are you looking at the job requests when you know you can't take one?" Nab asked, bring her back to reality.

"I just wanted to see the difference between these two. They look exactly the same except the reward. What's the difference?"

Nab looked at the two Lucy was talking about. "The difference is the jewel or artifact that'll you'll be guarding," he explained. "It depends on how valuable it is."

"I see…but how would you know? Don't you ever work?"

Nab scratched the back of his neck and stuttered as Lucy laughed. "I'm messing with you. Although I have heard that you don't ever work. Cana told me, I think."

"I'm just looking for a job that only _I_ can do. Nothing has come up yet though."

Lucy pat his arm, "Good luck then."

"Thank you."

She smiled and walked away from Nab and the request board. Making her way over to Lisanna, who was sitting next to Cana, Elfman, and Evergreen, she happened to have an idea come to mind. She sat down next to them and greeted them with a smile.

"Hey Lucy!" Lisanna wrapped her arms around her.

"Hey girl!" Lucy hugged back.

Elfman, Evergreen, and Lucy exchanged smiles, but Cana was too busy guzzling her barrel to realize her presence. It was okay with her though.

"I have an idea," Lucy stated when she pulled away from Lisanna.

"What is it?"

"I bet it's manly!" Elfman exclaimed, receiving a glare from Evergreen and a laugh from Lisanna and Lucy.

"Well, I guess you can call it manly…"

"Just tell us!" Evergreen said with a smile right after smacking Elfman with her fan.

"I want to go on a job request. Since I'm a wizard, I'd probably handle one well! What do you think?"

"I don't know…" Cana leaned over her barrel and looked down at Lucy. She was sitting on the table with her large barrel in her lap. Lucy could clearly tell that she was tipsy, but still aware of her surroundings. She was probably seeing double though. "You might be a wizard, but you're not a member Fairy Tail. I, personally, wouldn't mind, but it's not my decision. You'll have to talk to Master about it if you really want to go."

Lucy felt slightly discouraged, but it didn't bring her down. She stood up and looked around. "Okay then, where's Makarov?"

"Um…Over there!" Lisanna pointed toward the bar. "I'll come support you!"

Lucy smiled. "Thanks!"

Lisanna and Lucy walked over to Master Makarov who has a gloomy aura around him as he was going through what looked like complaint files from the Magic Council. It took all of Lucy's willpower not to giggle. It was funny how this guild is so destructive, but popular and fun at the same time. Oh! If she could only join…

"Master," Lisanna said, getting his attention.

Makarov happily turned away from the papers and looked at the two girls as the aura faded. "Hello Lucy and Lisanna! How may I help you?" He smiled.

Lisanna looked at Lucy who had smiled back at the short man. "I was wondering if it was okay for me to go on a job request," the blonde said. "I know I'm not a member, but I really want to go on one."

"I don't think so. I told your father that I would protect you. Letting you go on a job isn't protecting you."

Lisanna smiled and backed Lucy up, "But only the beast hunting jobs are dangerous. I noticed Lucy looking at a couple that had to do with guarding a jewel in a museum. I know bandits could get involved and they'd have to fight, but that rarely happens, Master. Even if it does, Lucy is a wizard. She can protect herself."

"Are you?" Master Makarov raised an eyebrow. She knew Lucy could defend herself because of the whip she carried around, but he never paid attention to the ring of keys. He always thought, " _everybody has quirks,_ " and turned away. Now it makes sense. "A Celestial Wizard I imagine."

Lucy nodded, shooting Lisanna a thankful glance. "That's right. I am."

"Prove it to me."

Lucy blinked in surprise. She didn't see that coming, but she'll do it anyway. With a nod, she stepped back and pulled out a silver key. She held it up and said, "Open: Gate of Canis Minor: Nikola!"

Plue appeared, causing Lisanna and Mira, who was watching, to look down at him and squeal with a smile. "Awwww! He's so cute!"

"This is Plue!" Lucy smiled and pointed to him. The snowman spirit did a trembling dance for the Makarov, who was obviously enjoying it.

"He's not much of a fighter," Lucy said, "But I have a ton of powerful spirits, like Taurus, Leo, Aquarius, Cancer, Scorpio, and others. If I run out of magic energy, I have my Fleuve d'étoiles," She patted her whip. "It's more than an ordinary whip." (In case you're wondering, Lucy has ten of twelve zodiac keys and a few of the silver.)

"See, Master? Lucy will be able to protect herself," Lisanna picked up the little snowman and admired his cuteness.

"Hmm…I see you can take care of yourself…fine, I'll allow it…"

Lucy smiled and cheered with Lisanna.

"…on one condition."

Their smiles vanished.

"You can't go alone. I understand you can protect yourself, but I don't like the idea of your doing a job on your own. I want you to go with someone."

"That's okay with me," Lucy smiled and glanced at Lisanna who had the same thought she did. They could go together! They'll have girl time! Levy would come too! Oh! So can Wendy! And Erza! It'll be so much fun! Lucy opened her mouth to say that she, Lisanna, and a few others would go together, but was a little too late.

Master Makarov looked around and spotted someone who was getting ready to leave. "Natsu!"

Natsu shot his pink head up and looked toward them. His and Lucy's eyes met for a moment before he turned away and walked toward Makarov. "What's up, Gramps?"

"Are you getting ready to leave for a mission?"

"Yeah."

"I want you to take Lucy with you. She wants to go on one and I don't want her to go alone."

"… _What?_ " Natsu blinked and resisted the urge to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming. " _Is he serious? Why me?_ "

Lucy had similar thoughts, " _Out of all the people to pick…it had to be him…_ "

Makarov seemed to read Natsu's mind. "If you abandon her or she gets hurt, I'll let Erza know."

"I'll do it. Let's go, Loopy!" Natsu grabbed Lucy's arm and began pulling her toward the door.

"The name's Lucy! And let go of my arm! I can walk on my own!"

Natsu ignored her, "She'll be safe with me, Gramps! Let's go, Happy!"

"Aye Sir!"

"I'm counting on you!"

Lucy looked at Lisanna pleadingly. The white haired girl shook her head and laughed, earning a tongue stuck out at her. Next time they'll have their girl mission.

When Lucy, Natsu, and Happy disappeared out the doors, Lisanna heard a noise beneath her. Plue was still in her arms smiling up at her. Lisanna smiled back. "So you're Plue? Nice to meet you! I'm Lisanna!"

"Pu~ Pun!"

"Is it okay if I hang out with you before you go back to the spirit world?"

"Pun!"

Lisanna didn't know whether he said yes or no, but with his smile, she figured he meant yes. She smiled wider. "Yea!"

Mira smiled too and walked toward them. "I'm on break so I'll hang out too!"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

As soon as the trio was out the door, Natsu let go of Lucy's arms and didn't spare her a look as he said, "you better keep up," with an attitude.

Lucy rolled her eyes, knowing he didn't want to take her with him. She didn't want to go with him either, but oh well. They'd have to live with it. It was just one mission…they could handle each other for one mission.

The truth was, Natsu and Lucy hadn't spoken at all since she'd come to Fairy Tail. She zipped around the guild hall, meeting everyone and getting to know them, but completely ignored Natsu. She felt a little bad about that though. They got off to a bad start when he and Happy rescued her. Lucy was just upset she couldn't save herself and took it out on him. She was going to talk to him, but it would be awkward and she didn't really know how to approach him. She tried to one time. She told herself that no matter what he said, she would talk to him, but she had completely forgotten how attractive he was. Once she was within five feet (He didn't see her. He was too busy glancing at the request board.), she heated up and retreated. That was another reason why she was a little snappy: she's never really been attracted to a boy before. Natsu was actually the first boy her age that she met. She doesn't get out of the castle a lot, but when she does, she never talks to anyone. She didn't know how to respond to his attractiveness and ended up snapping at him.

"You're coming with us, Lucy?" Happy brought her out of her thoughts as he flew around her.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I wanted to go on a job request and Makarov didn't want me to go alone."

"I see! Natsu and I will protect you! Right Buddy?"

Natsu continued walking in front of them without turning around. "Just hurry up."

Happy glanced at Lucy and whispered so he wouldn't hear (but he would hear because of his ultra dragon hearing so it didn't matter), "Sorry about him. He's just…you know."

Lucy nodded, "I get it…I kinda deserve it for the way I treated him when we first met." She looked up to see any reaction from Natsu. She knew he could hear them, but he didn't say anything. Lucy looked down at her shoes and bit her lip.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"So, what's the mission we're going on?" Lucy asked as she tried not to giggle at Natsu who was lying face first on the chair. " _This is why I nicknamed him the pink puke-face._ "

Natsu didn't answer, if he did, his lunch would end up next to him. Happy, however, pulled the flyer from Natsu's pocket and handed it to her, looking over her shoulder.

It happened to be one of the missions Lucy was comparing earlier. This one was the 800,000J reward though. So they had to stay up all night guarding a rare diamond in Acalypha. It wasn't too bad. Lucy might fall asleep, but she'll try her best!

"Acalypha? This train ride shouldn't be long then."

"Did you hear that, Natsu?" Happy hopped off of Lucy's shoulder and looked at his motion sick friend. He let out a moan in response.

"I think…maybe half an hour. I could be wrong though."

"Yes-ugh!" Natsu shut his mouth again.

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 **Poor Lucy! I hope she'll get to join Fairy Tail soon! I'm not spoiling if she will or not (though it's kinda obvious), but here's the chapter! I hope you enjoyed!  
**

 **-zEllie**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 13)

"I can understand why our client wants this guarded overnight," Lucy said as she stared at the large, shiny, white diamond on a pedestal with a glass shell around it. "It's really pretty!"

"If you steal that," Natsu said from the doorway, "you're paying for it. I don't care if you _are_ the princess."

"I didn't say I was going to steal it," Lucy turned to him. He was leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets. It was a rather attractive pose. Lucy ignored the light heat in her cheeks as she finished, "I just said it was pretty. I'm not the stealing type."

"That's because you have all the money your heart desires."

"What?! That is not true!" She may be a princess, but that didn't mean she had complete access to her family's fortune.

"Guys," Happy could see the irritated auras beginning to appear on the two. He was beginning to get nervous, "let's not kill each other. Okay?"

The two glanced at him and Happy almost thought they'd ignore him, but Lucy turned around and walked to the other side of the room as Natsu huffed and turned away. Happy sighed in relief and sat against the base of the pedestal.

Lucy stood by a window and looked out into the night. The stars were simply beautiful and she smiled as she begun to find each constellation that matched her keys.

Suddenly, something in the blackness of night, moved.

Lucy squinted and tried to block out the light from behind her. Was it just her imagination? After a few moments, Lucy figured that it was. Nothing was moving now, but it _was_ dark out so what did she know?

Hold on, something moved again.

Lucy blinked and stared, "…Natsu."

"What?" He huffed and turned to her.

"There's-"

Lucy pulled her arms up to her face just in time; the window in front of her shattered. Natsu jumped up and immediately ran toward her as she stumbled back from the window, but he caught her before she fell. When the two looked up, three bulky, tall men had climbed threw the window. One had dozens of throwing daggers on his bed (he's probably the one who broke the window), the other two had swords. The weird thing was that all three of them were shirtless with scars across their chests and arms. One of them even had an eye patch.

Lucy lowered her throbbing arms from her face, "pirates? Eek!"

Natsu had let her fall to the ground with a thud and stood in front of her with his hands aflame. "Stay back!" He said with a cocky grin. "They're mine!"

Someone breaking in during the kind of missions where you guard something, didn't happen often. Natsu didn't see this as a robbery, but as an exciting challenge that was just waiting for him to step up to it.

"Dis kid tis lookn dahwn on us, Captain," One said, turning toward the man in the middle.

The captain eyed Natsu, "fire magic, eh? Dis ain't yar lucky night, kid. Me crew and I deal wit ya crew, eespecially fire mages. Yar goin dahwn."

Natsu smirked, "We'll see about that! I'm all fired up! Happy! Lucy! Stay back!"

Lucy was raising an eyebrow at the three men. Why would three pirates be in the middle of town at night? Wait…oh yeah, Natsu, Happy, and she were in Hargeon, a town off the coast of the sea. These pirates must've docked off to rob a few houses.

"Lucy! Get back!" The blue exceed was pulling at the helm of the blonde's shirt. Lucy crawled backwards when the fight started.

Half the place was already destroyed and Lucy immediately understood why Fairy Tail was on bad terms with the Magic Council. She wanted to laugh, but decided it was best not to. She raised her arms to look at the wounds: there was glass in her skin which was causing the throbbing and the blood that surfaced. It was better than glass in her face though; she was grateful for her quick reflexes. Her shirt was cut as well, revealing her bra, but not too much of it too be embarrassing. She watched as Natsu fought against three pirates (while destroying the place) and it suddenly hit her. Why was she sitting here when she could fight too?

Lucy stood up and ignored Happy's protests. She grabbed a key and waved it in the air, "Open: Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

A giant, muscular cow appeared in front of her and immediately used his axe and swung a pirate behind Natsu's back. Natsu's eyes widened in surprise, but didn't question. He punched a pirate as he dodged his swinging sword.

"You summoned me, Miss Luuuucy?"

"Help Natsu take these guys out! He's the pink haired one by the way!"

Lucy held onto an extra key in case Natsu and Taurus needed help. The pirate with the daggers threw two at Lucy, but she was saved thanks to Happy, who pushed her out of the way just in time.

"Happy!" Lucy exclaimed and turned around. To her relief, Happy wasn't hit by the daggers.

She glared at the pirate and pulled out her Fleuve d'étoiles. She deflected his other throwing daggers and lashed out her whip at him. Surprisingly, he was able to dodge it and inched his way closer to her, but Natsu punched him before he was able to get to her. Lucy flashed him a thankful smile and turned around to check on Taurus. He was wounded a little, but one pirate was knocked out.

"Thanks, Taurus. You can go back now."

"Will I at least get a smooooch?"

"No! Go back now!"

Taurus disappeared and Lucy turned back around at Natsu and Happy. There were two pirates left which made things easier. For some reason, they could put up a fight, which was strange, but Lucy didn't dwell on it for two long, mainly because she couldn't. The pirate with the throwing daggers threw one at Lucy, hitting her square in the shoulder. She screamed and clawed at the pain the dagger had caused. She was slightly shocked to see the blood immediately oozing out.

Natsu spun around at her scream, "Lucy!" He heard a light swing in front of him and realized his shirt was sliced, revealing his chest and part of his abs.

"Ya gotta pay attention to yar opponent, kid!" The captain drew his blade back, slightly disappointed he didn't cut Natsu's skin.

Natsu growled and focused back on his fight, "Happy! Take care of Lucy!"

"I'm fine!" Lucy shouted as she stood on her feet.

Lucky for her, Happy hopped onto her opponent and distracted him while Lucy sat on the ground in pain. She was able to painfully pull the dagger from her shoulder and squeezed it tightly as an attempt to stop the blood.

Once she was back on her feet, she grabbed a key. "Happy, Move! Open: Gate of the White Ram: Aries!"

When Aries appeared, she didn't need to be told. She immediately shouted, "Go: Wool Bomb!" and aimed at the pirate. Happy dodged it just in time and Lucy's opponent was drowned in pink fluff. As expected, he fell into a relaxed and vulnerable position.

Lucy let an evil smile grow in her face as she ran toward him. "Lucy Kick!" With a kick to the face, the pirate got knocked out. Lucy smiled at Happy and high-fived him. The two then turned to Natsu to find him dealing with the captain.

"That's weird."

Lucy turned to Happy, "Huh?"

"Natsu usually takes these kind of guys out lickity-split, but it's taking a little while."

Lucy gripped her bleeding shoulder tighter like it was an attempt to think harder. "You're right….hmm…"

Natsu had the captain on the ropes and smiled when he jumped toward him to knock him out for good, but the pirate suddenly disappeared, leaving him stunned and confused. The pirate reappeared behind him and raised his sword. Both Lucy and Happy gasped.

"He's a wizard?!"

Lucy grabbed at her keys. The room was small, but not small enough for her to run and jump on the pirates back in time. Her Fleuve d'étoiles was across the room and that would take even longer time. Her last resort was her keys so she held one in the air and shouted as fast as she could. "Open: Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"

Virgo appeared from underneath the pirate, giving him an uppercut to stop him from stabbing Natsu. Natsu spun around just then and dealt a final blow.

"About time, dude," Happy said when all three pirates were out cold on the floor. "Lucy took out two of them while you had trouble with one."

"It's not my fault they were wizards!"

"Still."

"Yeah that's weird," Lucy bent over the captain and touched his forehead. "There's definitely magic pressure coming off of him, but…he's a pirate isn't he?"

"Lucy," She turned to Natsu, "Are you okay? Your arm is completely covered in blood." He helped her sit against the wall. "You should be more careful."

"I'm fine," She replied and noticed the cut on Natsu's shirt. It revealed most of his chest and she allowed her eyes to linger on his abs for too long. She went red and looked away. "Thanks…"

"Princess."

Lucy jumped at the voice and turned to the left to the pink haired maid, "You're still here?!"

"Is it time for punishment?"

"No! Why are you still here?"

"These guys are part of a guild," Virgo said as she took bandages from the celestial world and began to wrap them around her wounded shoulder.

Lucy's eyebrows went up, "Like one of those pirate, mage guild? No wonder. They were probably using some kind of magic to slow you down, Natsu."

Virgo nodded, "That's why it was harder than you thought. You took them down though, Princess. Nice work."

Natsu coughed, "Hello! I'm here too!"  
"She did better than you did," Happy chuckled.

"Shut up, Furball!"

There was a gasp and the trio (Virgo left after dealing with Lucy's shoulder wound) turned to see their client looking around the room…actually, it wasn't really a room anymore. They went overboard: the roof was on it's last leg and all four walls had giant holes in it…let's not talk about the shattered windows and burnt floors because that's worse than both the roof and walls.

"My room!"

"Yeah…" Lucy nervously chuckled. "Sorry about that. There was a robbery."  
"But we stopped it," Natsu said. "The criminals are right there on the floor taking a nap."

"My room is completely destroyed!"

Lucy flashed the man a nervous smile, "Your diamond is fine though…"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Natsu groaned and muttered something along the lines of "that client ticks me off" as Lucy rolled her eyes and trotted behind him and Happy. Their reward paid for the repair bills to their client's house and they were on their way back to Magnolia after turning those pirates in. Her arms where the glass stuck and her shoulder ached and she was ready to hit the hay, but they were in a forest and miles away from the guild hall.

"I say we camp here for tonight," Natsu suddenly said and hopped onto the ground, pulling food from his bag.

Great. The last thing Lucy wanted was to sleep on the dirty ground in the pitch blackness of a forest where there was wolves, snakes, poison ivy, mosquitoes, and the most frightening… _spiders_.

Lucy groaned and sat down next to him.

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 **I know, I know. I haven't posted a chapter in forever. I have excuses: my friend invited me over for a sleepover, my dad bought an awesome video game I've been playing, kissanime (the website I watch Fairy Tail off of)** _ **finally**_ **after 5 months, updated 13 new dub episodes, so I've been watching those, and I reached a part in the manga where I haven't seen or read yet, so I've been fangirling and reading and stuff. But, I don't have an excuse for the sucky chapter. I know you all are disappointed and I'm sorry. I suck at writing fight scenes, but you know the saying "practice makes perfect". Please forgive me. I'll write the next chapter soon and I promise it will be better. Happy Late Easter, btw.**

 **-zEllie**


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's another chapter! I finally caught up in the manga and wow….there is a** _ **lot**_ **of war. That scar on Natsu's face though made me dejected (hah! Vocab word!), but I'll just have to get used to it lol! (he's hotter without it, but whatev…shh! Don't tell anyone I said that XD) Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 14)

Natsu woke up to the glaring sun and groaned, rolling over. He just _had_ fall asleep facing east, where the sun rises. He and Happy camp in the middle of the forest a lot during missions; he always tells himself to face west when he falls asleep, but he forgot this time, which is weird. Why did he forget again?

Oh, yeah. Lucy. That's why.

It wasn't her fault though. She was just so impressive during their job that he often took his eyes off his opponent to watch her. That got him teasing from Happy (and probably the whole guild once they get back) and it probably won't stop for a month because she took out more pirates than he did. Lucy distracting him got him cuts and scratches here and there, but it wasn't too bad. Lucy had glass stuck in her arms, a torn shirt, and a bad shoulder wound. He wouldn't dare complain.

Natsu tossed and turned for a few minutes before sighing and sitting up. Happy was still asleep next to him, probably dreaming of fish or Carla. It was always one of those too.

He chuckled at his furry, blue friend and stood up to stroke the small campfire that was barely lit. As he did so, he got a better few of the forest around him and gazed around.

Hold on…where was Lucy?

Natsu's eyes widened at the sleeping bag on the other side of the fire that was empty. He glanced around him to see if she had just gotten up to go the bathroom behind a bush or eat something in the knapsack to his right.

Nope, Lucy was nowhere to be found.

The panic began to set in. Crap! Crap! Crap! The guild is going to kill him! Then Gramps will bring him back to clean the mess! Then Erza will…oh! Let's not go there…

Wait! Hold on a second! As Natsu ran his fingers through his spiky, rosy hair, he took a deep breath to calm him down. As he took that deep breath, Lucy's scent filled his nose.

He turned to his left and sniffed the air. There was her scent again, but it was mixed with something else…something that smelled a lot like…

Crap! His eyes widened. Her scent was mixed with blood.

Natsu darted off in the direction of her scent, all the while chanted to himself, "Please don't be dead! Please don't be dead! Please don't be dead!"

He stopped and sniffed the air again. Her scent was getting stronger, which meant he was getting closer. That's good, but the smell of blood made the panic settle deeper into him.

"Uh…Arg…Owie…nmmm…"

That's her voice! She's moaning! Okay, she's alive at least, but a wolf probably got a hold of her! Now she's lying on the ground, covered in blood with her insides hanging out of her, and she's barely hanging onto life by just a thread. Crap! Now he's _definitely_ going to be killed by the guild!

He darted toward the noise and stopped at what he saw.

Lucy was sitting down in the edge of a river and her blood was flowing away with the current. A first-aid kit, a small bottle of alcohol, and her ring of keys were sitting on a dry rock next to her. In her hands was a cloth and she was dabbing it against her right arm, biting her lip and moaning at the pain.

Natsu let out a loud sigh of relief, causing Lucy to turn around and stare at him.

"Natsu?"

"You gave me a heart attack. For a few moments, I thought you were dead," He walked toward her and sat in the river next to her, not caring about his clothes.

"Sorry," She let out a nervous giggle, "I didn't want to wake you up. You looked pretty peaceful. Good dream?"

Natsu shook his head. "No, just a dreamless sleep. How's your shoulder?"  
"Still hurts."

Natsu watched as she finished with one arm by wrapping fresh bandages around it. She then took tweezers and began to pull glass from her left arm, but he could clearly see that she was not right handed.

"Here, let me."

Lucy allowed Natsu to take the tweezers from her and pull the glass from her arm. It was easier to see here. The sun rose a little higher and the river was pink and orange as a result from reflecting the sky. It was easy to see and he tried to be gentle, but how can you be gentle when it comes to something like this. Every once in a while, Lucy would wince and groan, but was mostly quiet and unmoving.

"I'm sorry."

Her sudden apology caused him to look up from what he was doing. "Huh?"

Lucy looked away, seemingly sad, maybe even ashamed. "I said I was sorry."

"For what?"

"For being a jerk when you saved me a while back."

"Oh," Natsu looked back down and resumed what he was doing. "Don't worry about it. To be honest, I didn't want to save you. I was in a middle of a fight when Erza got in front of me, stole my opponent, and ordered me to go save you. So, I wasn't in the greatest mood."

"Neither was I. I didn't want to be saved. I wanted to save myself."

Natsu smiled, "If I ignored Erza and didn't go save you, I'm sure you would've been able to get out yourself."

"Really?"

"Yeah! You were pretty impressive back there!"

"Thanks. I really appreciate it!" Lucy watched as the glass was removed from her arm. "Wait a minute. If you ignored Erza, not only would I save myself, but wouldn't you have a giant welt on your head?"

"Lucy! I was trying to get around that point!"

Lucy burst out laughing. "Sorry!"

"No, you're not!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and winced at the pain in her arms. "Anyway, where's Happy?"

"He's still sleeping as far as I know," He handed the tweezers back. "There; I'm done."

"Thanks."

Taking the rag with the alcohol on it next, she began dabbing her arm. "Can you clean my keys? They have blood on them."

"Sure."

A moment of silence picked up before Lucy spoke again. "I got a little information out of them."

"Out of who?"

"Out of a couple of Raven Tail members. When I was kidnapped and before you rescued me, I was talking to a couple of them. Actually, it's not exactly information, but their intention isn't taking the throne so they can bring dark guilds back. It's kind of weird really."

"Yeah and…"

"I asked them why they didn't attack earlier and they said it was because they didn't have enough members in their guild, but if that was the case, wouldn't they have just allied with other dark guilds?"  
Natsu paused and glanced at her. She was right: that _is_ weird. "If taking the throne isn't their intention than what is?"

Lucy shook her head, "I don't know. You came in by that time, but even if you didn't, I don't think they would've told me."

The two paused in their thoughts for a moment, then continued to chat afterwards as Natsu cleaned her celestial keys and Lucy cleaned her wounds. Finally, it seemed she was able to get along with him.

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"NATSU DRAGNEEL!"

Lucy would've laughed if it didn't hurt her shoulder to do so. Once she, Natsu, and Happy were through the front doors of the Fairy Tail guild hall, everyone had noticed her wounds and began digging Natsu's grave for him.

"I'm sorry! She's not injured too bad!" Natsu ran from a white haired devil and a red head whose looks would kill. Master Makarov was not happy either along with the rest of the guild. "She just has a few scratches!"

"From the looks of her shoulder," Wendy said from behind her. She was healing Lucy's wounds and watching Natsu's death. "It seems she was stabbed by a knife. That's not a few scratches, Natsu."

Lucy nodded, "That's right. It was a dagger."

"Lushy~!" Natsu complained. "You traitor~!"

Lucy laughed, "Sorry not sorry!"

When Wendy finished up with Lucy's wounds, she thanked her and walked over to Levy who was with Gajeel. " _Didn't I see her with him when I left…They've been hanging out an awful lot…_ "

"Levy!" Lucy waved.

Levy smiled and waved back, "Hi Lu! How was the job?"

"It was fun," She then turned to Gajeel. "I hate to steal her from you, but I need to do my studies." Lucy grabbed Levy's arm and began dragging her away as Gajeel laughed. Levy was as light as a feather and it was fun watching her.

"Hey wait!" Levy shouted. "What do you mean 'steal her from you'?! Oh! Bye Gajeel! I'll talk to you later!"

"See ya, Shrimp!"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Are you done yet?" Levy asked her friend. She was currently reading one her favorite romance novels as Lucy was taking a science quiz on how lacrimas operate. They were in the quiet library of the guild hall where they were surrounded by books, but instead of calling it a library the first day they arrived, Levy called it "paradise".

"Almost," Lucy answered. "I have one question left…hmm…" Lucy wracked her brain for the answer and when it came to mind, she let out a "oh!" and scribbled it down. "There! Done!" Lucy handed Levy the paper.

"Thanks Lu!"

"I'm going to take a nap now. On the journey back, I had to sleep on the ground. It wasn't comfortable."

"That's fine. I hope you get some sleep. I'll in here grading your work if you need me."

"Alright. See ya!"

Lucy rubbed her eyes and walked to her room. Right when the door closed, Lucy slumped against it and debated whether she would change into her pajamas or just go to sleep in her clothes.

"Yo!"

Lucy looked up to see Natsu lying on her bed with a cute, goofy smile. Happy was beside him gnawing on a fish.

With a small scream, Lucy kicked them off the bed. "What are you doing in here?! Don't you know how to knock?! Also, if no one answers, don't just stroll in like you own the place!"

Natsu stood up, rubbing his cheek. "Gee! We just wanted to check your room out. Mira never lets us come in here. She says we'd make a mess, but we didn't."

Happy appeared next to him with a bump on his head. "Aye."

"This isn't 'checking out'! It's barging in! And…wait, I'm pretty sure I locked the door the last time I left…" Lucy rubbed her chin and thought back to the day when Natsu, Happy, and she left for the job. Yup, she locked it. She remembers.

"Oh, we didn't use the door," Natsu stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We used the window."

"The window?!" Lucy went toward the window, opened it, and looked down. They were on the second story of the guild hall, but need I remind you that the guild hall is huge. So, they were pretty high up. If Lucy was outside, she would guess that her room was on the fourth floor. "How on Earthland did you guys get up here?!"

"I flew Natsu up here," Happy said, hovering next to Lucy, who shut the window. "It wasn't too far."

Lucy groaned and rubbed her forehead. She knew he could fly; she just forgot. "Whatever. Anyway, don't barge in here again-"

"No! Don't give up, Alex! You got this!"

Lucy turned to Natsu. He was clenching his fist like he was cheering someone on and his eyes were glued to a stack of paper in his hands. Lucy was about to groan and ask him what he was reading until it hit her: Alex is the name of the main character in her novel.

"Hey! Don't read that!" With a grab at her novel and a kick to the face, Natsu was sent to the wall.

"Ow! What was that for?" He groaned, rubbing his jaw.

"You shouldn't be reading other people's stuff! This could've been my diary! Who gave you permission to read this anyway?!"  
"You did!" Natsu looked up toward the ceiling like it was his brain. "…at least I think you did…"

Lucy groaned. "Whatever! Just get out! I'm really tired and there is no way I'm sleeping with you two in my room!"

"But we wanna hang out with you," Happy said, causing Lucy to turn back to him. "The guild is mad at us right now and we were lonely. Besides, we really like you!"  
"Yeah!" Natsu said with his trademark smile. "You seem like a nice person."

Lucy blinked in surprise, " _Woah…did I just get a compliment from him?_ " She blushed.

"But you're really weird too!"

She then growled and snacked him on the head with her novel. "You idiot! The fire eater with the talking cat thinks _I'm_ weird?!"

"Yeah!" Natsu ignored the throbbing on his head from the tree times she him him and smiled wider. "You're weird. I'm weird. Happy's weird. That's why we like you and want you to go on more missions with us!"

"Aye sir!"

Lucy groaned. " _So much for napping…at least we're friends now…_ "

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 **Okay. This chapter is a lot better! I hope you liked it! And Happy Early April Fool's Day! I was going to write a NaLu one-shot for the holiday, but nothing came to mind and I'm terrible at pranks. Anyway, next chapter is coming soon!**

 **-zEllie**


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm here with another chapter that will probably be rushed because I don't know what to do next. I want to draw it out as much as I can so I can get the planned couples to spend more time with each other. I'll try not to rush it though.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 15)

"Come on, Gray," Lucy crossed her fingers and looked across the room while she whispered to herself. "You know you want to…"

She couldn't hear they're conversation thanks to the rowdiness of the guild hall, but she could see them as clear as day. Gray and Juvia were only half a foot from each other. They both had red faces and they were staring into each other's eyes, saying something Lucy wished she could hear.

She's talked to Gray a few times to get to know him a little better (she wanted to get to know everybody in the guild. I made it sound weird, but I didn't know how else to put it) and every time she approached him, smiled at him, laughed with him at something funny that was said, or even looked at him, Lucy would feel Juvia's cold stare on the back of her head…and sometimes, she thought she heard the words "love rival".

"Come on…just kiss already!" Lucy begged under her breath with her intense stare on them. It was almost like she was pushing Gray and Juvia into each other with her eyes.

"Gray…come on…just take one step…"

"Heyya!" Suddenly, someone threw his arm over Lucy's shoulder, causing her to squeal.

"Natsu! Don't do that! You scared me!"

"Sorry."

Lucy felt her face burn up at his warm arm around her and pushed it off her, "And don't just drape yourself over me like that! It's embarrassing."

Natsu smirked, flashed his trademark grin at her, and sat down next to her. He eyed her food in front of her, which happened to be leftover mash potatoes and chicken. He didn't even have to ask; Lucy slid it over to him and he began devouring it. She wasn't hungry anyway, she was too focused on the couple across the guild and she returned to attention back to them.

Gray and Juvia haven't moved and their faces were even redder. Whatever they were talking about, it was making Gray want to lean in. She knew he wanted to! Just look at his eyes full of want!

"…mmm…" Lucy squinted at them and mentally prayed someone would walk by and "accidently" bump Gray into Juvia. "Hmmm…" She tried moving them with her eyes again…it wasn't working.

"What are you staring at?"

Lucy was so concentrated, she almost didn't hear him, "Gray and Juvia."

Natsu swallowed the bite of chicken in his mouth and looked over. His eyes widened slightly at how close the said two was. "Woah…Frosty usually never lets her get that close to him."

"Come on…" Lucy ignored him. "Just kiss already…"

Natsu glanced back at Lucy with a raised eyebrow. "Why do you want them to kiss?"

"Because."

"…Because?"

Lucy groaned and pouted at him, but didn't take her eyes off the couple. "Because they're adorable! Just look at them! But, of course, you're a guy; you wouldn't understand."

"I don't know whether I should be insulted or complimented."

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever, I think they're adorable! I wish Gray would suck it up and kiss her!"

"I wish Gray would just suck it up and live life without being a pervy popsicle."

Lucy took her eyes off the pair and turned to the pink haired idiot. The glare would've been nearly as dark as Erza's if Natsu didn't notice how pretty she was.

The sun shown in at that moment and seemed to make her hair glow. It made her eyes a beautiful dark shade and he could see every detail in her face. Natsu has never looked at girls the way he was now, so this was new. Sure, he thought some girls were pretty, but here, the sun itself was complimenting her in every way possible and he was 100% positive she was an angel rather than a human being. To him, he didn't get a long enough look at her beauty before a cloud covered the sun and Lucy's glow left. She was still just as pretty as before, but Natsu found himself wanting to see her with the sun in her golden hair again.

Lucy noticed he drifted off to lala land and rolled her eyes. Whatever he was thinking about (she guessed food), he was simply too deep into his daydream to notice her cold glare. Whatever. Lucy turned back to the couple and gapped when neither of them was there. She glanced around the room to find a black haired man and a blue haired woman. She found Juvia sitting at the bar with a disappointed look on her face talking to Mira (probably about Gray). Gray wasn't in the room and Lucy assumed he had ran off. She groaned in disappointment and sunk in her seat. "They didn't kiss…dang it…"

Natsu finally ripped his eyes away from the beauty in front of him, hid his blush in his scarf, and glanced to where Gray and Juvia were standing earlier. He shrugged and snuck another glance at Lucy again. Why the heck is he thinking of her that like? He hasn't even known her for very long! They started hanging out yesterday and before that he couldn't stand to be in the same room with her! Is it because she's a princess? He may be a guy, but he's heard _many_ sappy fairy tales about how the princesses are always so beautiful…maybe that's why: because she's a princess. Yeah, he'll go with that.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Lu, you're falling behind on your subjects," Levy scribbled down some things and handed Lucy a few papers that had bad grades on it. It was weird: Lucy couldn't remember the time when she got less than a B-. "This isn't like you. Ever since you got back from the mission with Natsu and Happy, you've been drifting off during our study time."

"Sorry," Lucy scratched the back of her head. "I've been distracted lately."

"Have you not been getting good sleep?"

"Actually, I've been getting great sleep. My thoughts are just not where they should be."

Levy glanced at her, "You know. It's only been two days since you, Natsu, and Happy went on that job and ever since then, I've seen you and him glued to each other's side. Lu, I think you're picking favorites in the guild." Levy smirked at her friend, leaned close to her, and sent her an evil smile.

Lucy blushed, "no! No way! It isn't like that!"

"Sure it isn't," Levy poked Lucy's red cheek. "You two would be awful cute together! Oh! That's probably why you changed your mind about him so suddenly after the mission: because you think he's cute!"

Lucy was red as Erza's hair and she quickly thought up something to fight back. "W-well…y-you're one to talk!" She shouted. "Every time I'm in the guild hall, I see you talking with Gajeel and Lily. Hinting something are we?"

It was Levy's turn to blush, "No! Gajeel is just really nice and a good friend! Nothing more, nothing less!"

"Sure," Lucy poked her red cheek. "Have you even talked to anyone else?"

"Y-yeah! Of course I have! I've talked to Mira, Elfman, Lisanna, and these two guys who are a little obsessed over me named Jet and Droy! I've also talked to Gray, Juvia, Wendy, and Carla! I've even talked to Natsu! Or would you like me to stay away from him because he's yours?"

Lucy puffed, "He's not mine on any level of the sort! We're just friends!"

Levy smiled, stood up, and began to dance around Lucy, "Natsu and Lucy sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G!"

"No! Levy!"

Levy laughed, "First comes love, second comes the marriage-"

"Stop! Don't continue! Don't go there!"

"Ha ha! Lu, you should see how red your face is now!"  
"It's red because you're embarrassing me!"

"No one else is in here."

"The walls have ears and Natsu has better hearing than any animal! If he hears this, I'll be so embarrassed!"

"You're the one shouting."

"You're the one singing!"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Gajeel chuckled and averted his eyes from the ceiling. Levy was right about one thing: Natsu and Lucy have been glued to each other's hip since they've gotten back. He chose to ignore the teasing Lucy gave Levy about her and him.

"Gajeel, what are you laughing at?" Pantherlily asked, swallowing the bite of kiwi in his mouth.

"Oh nothing. I just overheard a funny conversation. Now I have something to tease Salamander about."

"And what is that?"

Gajeel chuckled again, "Oh, you'll find out soon."

.-.-.-. next morning.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Lucy fluttered her eyes open and moaned. It was so warm in her bed, she just didn't really want to get up. She snuck a look at the blue cat and pink haired boy next to her. The first night after the mission Lucy happened to shift in her sleep and accidently brush up against Natsu. She opened her eyes to see that he and Happy broke into her room again and fell asleep next to her. At first, she was absolutely freaked out and was about to kick them off until she noticed the heat radiating off Natsu and the cold room as she sat up with her foot ready the kick. She decided to pretend he wasn't there and go back to sleep. In the morning, she'll shove them off.

Lucy knew that was the reason why she was getting good sleep, but she refused to let them know she allowed them to sleep next to her just because she liked the warmth Natsu was giving off.

Anyway, it was morning now so there was no reason to let him stay next to her anymore. She sighed, sat up, and kicked him off her bed. Natsu hit the ground with an "Oof!" and Happy was shoved next landing on his face.

"You guys!" Lucy whisper-shouted. She didn't want to wake Levy up next door. If she came in here, saw Natsu and Happy in her room with the ruffled bed sheets, she'd get the wrong idea. "How many times have I told you to stop breaking in here, especially when you fall asleep on my bed!"

Natsu popped his head up to look her in the eyes and rubbed his back, "Ow, Luce! Why'd you have to push me off like that?! Now I have a cramp in my back!"

"Shhh!" She put a hand over his mouth and whisper-shouted. "Be quiet! I don't want Levy to hear and-wait…did you just call me Luce?"

Natsu took her hand off his mouth. "Yeah. Do you not like it? I can just call you Lucy if you…" Natsu stopped his sentence short when the sun shown in again and made her golden hair glow.

"No, I like Luce. It just took my off guard," Lucy found herself blushing while looking at his adorable, messy, rosy locks.

Happy, who knew he was being ignored, saw how they were both looking at each other and puffed out his cheeks, "You liiiiiikke each other!"

Lucy would've strangled him if Natsu didn't get to him first.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Levy walked downstairs and made her way to Mira to order a cup of tea. On her way, she bumped into a tall man (well, to her, everyone was tall). She rubbed her face and looked up at the person to apologize.

"Sorry about that, Jet. I didn't see you there."

"That's alright, Levy. I was dozing off. Hey! I was wondering if you wanted to go…uh…on a date later today."

Levy gapped. "A date?"  
"Yeah," Jet blushed. "U-unless you're busy."

"N-no, I'm not busy, but I-"

"Hey Jet!"

Droy stomped over. "Levy would ever go on a date with you! She'll go out with me!"  
"Huh?!" Levy sweat dropped and was glad there wasn't many people in the room. It was early in the morning so the only people there were the Strauss Siblings and about a three others who passed out from partying for no reason last night.

"Oh yeah? You'll think she'll go out with a fatty like you?"

"She'll date me rather than you because you're so dumb!"

"W-w-wait! Guys! Don't start fighting!"

They didn't hear her because they were too focused on their argument. Levy groaned and ignored the laughing Mira in the background.

"Shrimp!"

Levy turned around and met with a chest that seemed like iron. "Gajeel?"

Gajeel grabbed her arm. "Let's get out of here."

Before she could object, he pulled Levy out of the guild hall into the sunlight. He let go of her arm then and walked next to her rather than in front of her.

"Thanks for the save," Levy said.

"No problem…uh, listen…you weren't actually going to say yes, were you?" He looked at her with such sincerity that Levy couldn't help, but blush slightly.

"N-no. I was going to say no, but Droy showed up and started fighting with Jet. Why do you ask?"

Gajeel shrugged and turned away, "No reason."

Levy blushed a little more and quickened her pace to keep up with him. " _You know…maybe Lucy was right…_ "

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 **Now that's a lot of fluff (I love fluff) and I got all three couples in one chapter! Oh yeah! *does a dance* Also, I'm thinking there's going to be Jerza, but I don't know exactly when I'll introduce Jellal in the series…I don't know I'll figure something out. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **-zEllie**


	16. Chapter 16

**Now, I know I said that I'll do the next chapter for "Blood", but I have no idea what is going to happen between Natsu and Lucy…and I feel bad because so many people like it and want to know what'll happen! I get follows mainly because of that story (at least I do on DeviantArt [I post my stories on there too])! So, if you have an idea about what I could do for that two-shot, please please** _ **please**_ **send me a message and tell me. On this account or DeviantArt, it doesn't matter to me.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 16)

Okay, breaking into her room and falling asleep on her bed is one thing, but this is ridiculous. The worst part is that they didn't seem to care. They glanced at her and didn't care that she was naked wrapped in only a towel.

"Hey Lucy!" Natsu flashed his trademark smile. "Listen, I got-"

"You pervert!" Natsu got a kick to the face and she held her towel tighter to her body. "How many times do I have to tell you to knock?! If no one answers, don't just come in here! Did you know I was showering?!"

"Aye!" Happy exclaimed, ignoring Natsu who was moaning on the floor. "We heard the water running in the bathroom and decided to wait out here."

"You idiots! When I'm showering, leave and come back later! Don't just stroll in here!" Lucy flushed. Not only wan a totally hot guy she was attracted to in her room, but she was in only a towel. It was embarrassing.

"But Lucy," Natsu hopped up with a smile, ignoring the throbbing in his cheek, "Happy and I got another job!"

"Good for you! Why couldn't you wait until I was downstairs to tell me?!"

"Because we want you to go with us again!" Happy exclaimed.

Lucy blinked, "Say what?"  
"I said-"

"No, I heard you. Why do you want me to come?"

"We already told you, you weirdo," Natsu poked her red cheek. "We like you! We want you to come on more jobs with us."

"The last time I went on a job with you guys, the guild killed you because I was injured," Lucy turned to the pink haired boy. "It also ended up a disaster. Are you guys sure we want me?"

"If we didn't want you," Natsu flashed his trademark grin and threw his arm around her shoulders, "we wouldn't have asked."

"Aye! So come with us!"

Lucy smiled, "Alright then! Sounds fun! But first, get out. I need to change."

After sometime of persuading from the Makarov and Erza, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy left for another job. It was simple like the last one, but this time, no pirates, burglars, and anybody attacked. They took the reward home with smiles and no one was injured.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. two weeks later.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Hey Lucy!" Lisanna sat down in the seat across from Lucy who was eating her lunch.

"Hi Lis!" Lucy smiled after swallowing a bite of green beans. "What's up?"

"You wanna go on a job? A girls only job? It'll be _so_ much fun! Erza, Levy, Cana, Wendy, and any girl could come!"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Lucy replied. "It does sound fun, but Natsu and I are going on a job after I eat."

"Again?" Lisanna's eyes widened. "That would be the eighth mission you and he would be going on!" She then lowered her voice, "You like him, don't you?"

With those five words, Lucy's face was redder than Erza's hair. She made a face, swallowed another bite, and whisper-shouted, "Natsu and I? No way!"

"I think you two would be adorable together!" Lisanna looked around the room to make sure no one was listening. "Lucy…can I tell you something? It's not really a secret, but I prefer if this didn't get out."

Lucy nodded with a smile. "Of course you can tell me. I won't breathe a word to anyone. I promise."

Lisanna leaned closer to Lucy from across the table and whispered quieter than before, "I had a crush on Natsu."

Lucy raised an eyebrow as she felt jealousy and a bit of possession hit her, "you like him?"

She shook her head. "No, I _had_ a crush on him. It was when I was little. Natsu and I were really close friends and I had a major crush on him. Don't tell anyone. If this got out, people will think I still like him."

Lucy pressed her lips together in a smile as the feelings left her, "My lips are sealed."  
"Thank you," Lisanna smiled back. "Now that I've told you my 'secret', you tell me yours. Do you like Natsu?"

Lucy stared down at her food, "…"

"I promise not to tell anyone. You can trust me," Lisanna grabbed Lucy's hand and squeezed it for support.

Lucy sighed, "…I don't really know…I kinda do, I guess."

"What do you mean by 'kinda'?"

"Well..." Lucy looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping and hesitated before whispering, "Natsu is…really hot."

Lisanna giggled.

"Shut up, Lis."

"I'm sorry," Lisanna bit her lip so she wouldn't laugh louder and draw attention. "It's just you're so cute right now: your red face, your nervous position, and the way you said that…"

"That's it. I'm not talking to you anymore."

"No!" Lisanna gave her the puppy face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sor-"

"I'm just kidding!" Lucy laughed at her friend's attempt for a puppy face. Lisanna was too cute to need to make the puppy face. Just looking at her makes you want to give in.

"Phew!" Lisanna wiped invisible sweat from her forehead. "Anyway, I understand why you think Natsu is hot because…well he is…and I've known Natsu for a long time. If I talked to him, I'm sure I could figure out that he likes you too."

"No!" Lucy looked around after realizing that her voice was raised to high. Luckily, she wasn't loud enough to draw attention. She lowered her voice back down to a whisper when she was sure no one was staring. "Lisanna, listen…it wouldn't work out even if I did admit that I like him."

The white haired girl raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"

"I'm a princess."

"…so?"

It took Lucy all of her willpower not to bang her head on the table. "Lisanna, I'm a princess," she repeated. "I'm going to end up being married to a prince from another country or someone rich."

"Is that what you want?"

The question stuck in Lucy's head. It was obvious to all her and her new friend that it wasn't what she wanted, but all Lucy's life, she's been thinking of Fiore first. What will be best for Fiore ten years from now? What kind of king will be best for Fiore? What could she do to enhance and guarantee better safety for Fiore? No, it wasn't what she wanted, but what about Fiore?

"Lucy, is being married to a rich prince really what you want?" Lisanna repeated when the blonde didn't answer.

"Well, no, but-"

"Then do something about it."

"…huh?" Lucy made a face.

"You said it yourself: you're the princess. I'd think you'd have the authority to change something as simple as that."

"No, I don't have the authority…I can't change that."

"Well, your parents certainly do. Ask them to change it."

"I don't know…the advisor-"

"Hey Lucy!"

Lisanna and Lucy turned around to meet with a pair of onyx eyes that belonged to the boy they were talking about. Natsu waved at them from the front doors of the guild hall with Happy floating next to him. "Let's get going! We'll be late if we don't leave now!"

"I'm coming!" Lucy took one last bite of her food and stood up. She cast a glance and smile at Lisanna before running out the doors with the dragon slayer and his exceed.

Lisanna sighed, "I hope things will work out for you, Lucy."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The sun was setting as Natsu, Lucy, and Happy made their way home from their latest job. There was tension in the air and the silence dragged on and on. The conversation with Lisanna kept repeating in Lucy's head during the three hours of guarding an emerald. She would immediately zone out and wouldn't remember what she was supposed to do. The question Lisanna asked her just wouldn't leave her alone. Lucy didn't want to be princess, she never asked for it, but she was. What she wanted was to be a member of Fairy Tail. She wanted to be free.

And that won't happen if she was a princess.

"Lucy."

Lucy turned to face Natsu who noticed that she was so lost in thought. Lucy realized that she missed the front doors of the guild hall and mumbled "sorry" embarrassingly as she rushed past him and Happy into the guild hall. She looked around for Lisanna, but she wasn't in the room. Lucy hoped that maybe she could talk to her some more.

"Who are you looking for?"

Lucy turned back to Natsu and Happy who both wore concerned expressions. Lucy blushed when she locked eyes with Natsu and looked away. "I-I was looking for Lisanna, but she's not here," Lucy then yawned. "It's getting late; I'm going to hit the hay. See ya."

Natsu watched her as she walked upstairs. With every step she took, the guiltier Natsu became. Lucy barely spoke at all during the mission and every time she looked at him, she'd turn away. She had a very faraway look in her eyes and forgot what she was doing frequently. What did he do to upset her? How could he make it up to her? He backtracked to see if he could figure out what he had done wrong, but he couldn't think of anything. It drove him nuts to see her upset, especially at him.

"Natsu…"

"What did I do, Happy?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was something I did."  
"No, it was definitely me."

Happy hummed in thought, "Maybe we should give her the night alone tonight. She's always mad when we fall asleep on her bed. Maybe that's it."

"Good thinking, Happy," Natsu figured that was it, but it didn't make him feel any better.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Lucy rubbed her arms and cuddled her knees tighter. She was completely under the blankets wrapped in a ball, but she was freezing. She was so tired, but she just couldn't fall asleep. Where was Natsu? He was literally like a heater and tonight was colder than it normally was. It just had to be the night when Natsu decided not to break in! Why?!

Lucy dared to pop her head out from under her thick blanket to check the time: 12:42. Ugh! Why couldn't she just fall asleep already?! Lucy retreated back under the covers when she couldn't stand the cold. Seriously, where was Natsu? Did something happen to him?  
When the window suddenly opened, Lucy prayed that it was him rather than a burglar because she just didn't care.

The window shut and the bed shifted as a weight settled in. A muscular arm brushed up against her and she shivered at the warmth it burned on her skin. She automatically rolled over and found the warmth again as her chest met with a muscular chest. It was definitely Natsu. No one else had unnatural body heat like he did. She relaxed a bit and stretched her legs out from her body, pressing her frostbitten toes against his warm ankles and wrapping her arms around his waist tightly.

"Woah!" Natsu exclaimed, "You're so cold!"

"Y-yeah…I-I know."

Natsu snuggled into her and pulled her closer. Lucy obliged and berried her nose in the crook of his neck as she let out a shaky breath. Fate must be on her side tonight. She got to cuddle with the boy she's debating whether or not she's in love with and it didn't feel strange; it felt right. She shivered again, but this time from Natsu's arms around her waist. Lucy wouldn't admit it out loud, but she wanted to be in his arms more often.

Thank goodness it was cold.

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 **Finally! I'm so sorry this was late! I had a major writers' block after the fifth paragraph. I also had a slumber party and homework and other things…Oh! Also, listen to this! I have…*drum roll*….another series idea! Yes! I've already made notes and planned everything that'll happen! I'm super duper excited! This is the first series idea I didn't get from a dream, but it's still good! I'm going to call it "Tree house". I know it sounds dumb, but I think you'll love it as much as I do. Don't worry though; I'm doing to finish this series first. If you guys want, I can post a teaser trailer for it. I'm really excited for it!**

 **-zEllie**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi guys! I'm back! I was tempted to write the first chapter of "Tree house" because…you know, I'm excited! I thought that typing the chapters down in between this series will get it out faster when I begin to post it, but like I said before, I'm working on this series now. I'll finish it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 17)

When Lucy woke up against Natsu's warm chest, she didn't really want to kick him and yell at him. Natsu was like her personal heater and she couldn't get enough of it.

" _Woah there, Lucy! We aren't getting any 'personal' with Natsu on any level! Remember, you are a princess. You'll marry a rich guy for the good of the future of Fiore. Falling in love with him won't help."_

Ugh, seriously?! Lucy figured that in the morning, the question Lisanna asked her would vanish, but it decided to stay and haunt her. Even if she decided that she _was_ in love with Natsu, it wouldn't go any good.

Lucy looked up at Natsu's face to see that he was still sleeping before she snuggled back into him.

Well, _if_ Lucy loved him and she wasn't a princess, it still wouldn't do any good. Natsu most likely didn't see her that way, at least not yet. She has read many romance novels during her years cooped up in the castle and every one of them starts with the girl falling in love first. "Girls fall faster, but guys fall harder". That was a little saying Levy and she made up. If Natsu _did_ end up liking her, he wouldn't right at the moment. Still, the probability of Natsu liking her back was highly unlikely.

Wait, why is Lucy thinking this way? She didn't love Natsu so why was she thinking ahead?

Lucy groaned in frustrated and pulled back a little to look at the time: 9:32. If she stayed in bed any longer, Levy would come and get her. Ugh! The thought of her finding out that she's been sleeping with Natsu is horrible! When she left her personal hea-Natsu, the cold welcomed her into its embrace. Before she could think twice, she was curled against him again, hugging him tighter.

"You aren't _that_ cold, are you?"

Lucy immediately pulled back into a sitting position and nearly shrieked, but her hand slapped against her own mouth quickly. He was awake?! Crap! Why did he have to be awake?!

"You okay?" Natsu asked, sitting up. The blanket fell from his chest which gave her a great view of six-pack abs and tan muscles.

"Uh…yeah!" She tore her eyes away. "I'm fine! I just didn't expect you to be awake."

"You're pretty loud," Natsu smirked teasingly. "So loud, I can almost hear your thoughts!"

" _Thank goodness you're just kidding…_ "

"Hey Luce?"

"Yeah?"

"What did I do to make you upset yesterday?"

Lucy blinked a few times. Yesterday? What happened yesterday? Well, the job happened, but she could remember anything Natsu did in particular. "Uh…nothing…?"

Natsu groaned and mumbled something along the lines of "weirdo" before speaking, "You kept looking away from me when I'd talk to you and you kept staring off into space. What did I do to make you upset?"

"Oh that…" Lucy scratched her head. " _Crap! Of course he noticed! I forgot about that!_ ". She turned and looked him in the eyes. It was the first time in two days she did that without blushing (it was hard too. He looked incredibly hot right now, sitting in that position with no shirt). "It wasn't you. Lisanna said something to me-"

"It was Lisanna?! Where is she so I can talk to her?!" Natsu bit his lip and slightly raised his voice a little.

What the?! Where was this suddenly coming from?! He's mad because Lisanna said something that put her in deep thought?!

"No! Natsu, she didn't say anything that made me upset! She just said something that got me thinking. That's all."

"She definitely made you upset. I saw the look in your eyes yesterday."

Lucy blinked. She was upset? She knew she was deep thought, but she didn't know she was _too_ upset about it. How could Natsu know and not she? They've met only a month ago and he already knew her this well?

Natsu continued when she didn't answer. "I thought it was something I did. Happy said it was probably because you were upset that we've been falling asleep on your bed so we decided to give you some space…"

Aww! He cares for her! That was enough to make Lucy's heart jump.

"…but I couldn't sleep without you so I came here."

If Lucy thought her heart jumped a second ago, it was nothing compared to now. It beat so loud she could've sworn he heard it. He couldn't sleep without her? Was that the same reason why she couldn't sleep last night either? Lucy thought that it was because of the cold, but now it seemed different. Thank goodness no one was in the room to listen…hold on…Isn't there usually someone else in here?

Lucy glanced around, "Where's Happy?"

"Crap!" Natsu hopped up, grabbed his vest and scarf. "I forgot him and left him at home!" he said before hopping out the window.

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"Again, how did you get Master to agree to this, Natsu?" Lucy mumbled as she trailed behind Natsu and Happy. "I _really_ don't feel like dying today!"

Natsu turned and flashed her his trademark grin. "Relax, Luce! It'll be fun! We're just going dragon hunting! Nothing too dangerous!"

"The name in and of itself is dangerous," She mumbled even quieter than before, but she knew he heard her.

"We're not really hunting _dragons_ ," Happy commented. He was a little upset for being left behind, but Lucy thought he'd quickly forgive Natsu since he was a father figure to him. "We're just hunting beasts."

"That's still scary!" Lucy hugged herself in comfort and checked for her whip and keys for the hundredth time. "Wasn't Fairy Tail supposed to protect me and not put me in front of a beast?! I mean, little jobs for guarding jewels are fine – except the first one, but that doesn't count – but a dragon hunting job?! I'm going to die!"

"You won't die," Natsu said without turning around, but she could tell by his voice that he was serious. "I'll make sure you don't. I can promise you that."

As the smile and blush crept onto her face, Lucy knew with those few small words, that she was guaranteed safety. Even if the world was crashing down and Natsu said those same words, she knew she'd be safe.

" _You know…maybe I am in lo-_ "

"You loooooove each other!" Happy seems to see everything as he glanced from Natsu's serious face to Lucy's blushing one.

"Shut it cat," Lucy snapped, "or you're gonna get hurt!"

Natsu ignored them as he stopped. "Well, we're here."

Lucy looked at the house they stopped in front of as Natsu knocked on the door. "Where are we again?"

"Third planet from the sun," Happy snickered.

Lucy huffed, "Natsu…"

"We're at the client's house."

"Thank you for giving the answer I wanted."

"You should've been more specific, Lushey!"

"It's Lucy, you stupid cat!"

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Lucy would've repeated the statement that she was going to die if she wasn't given Natsu's promise for safety. She trusted him and knew she wasn't going to die today. However, this didn't stop her from being afraid. Their client said that this monster was most likely a Vulcan since they were in Mt. Hakobe, but this wasn't a Vulcan. It was a White Wyvern. This was good for Natsu since these beasts were almost like dragons and he was a dragon slayer, but Lucy doesn't have much experience in fighting outside the training grounds in Crocus. When she laid her eyes on the beast, she nearly passed out from fright. Natsu, however, was jumping in his shoes with a huge smile.

"You have fun, Natsu!" Lucy had said, "I'm outta here!"

"Where do you think you're going?!" Natsu had replied with an even bigger smile as he wrapped an arm around Lucy's waist to keep her from going anywhere. "Relax! This'll be fun!"

"…Okay, I'm still not sure about this, but I'll try my best."

"That's the spirit! You're starting to get a little Fairy Tail in you!"

Motivated by the comment, Lucy fought harder than she intended to. That was probably why she used a lot of Magic Energy at the beginning rather than drawing it out. Lucy didn't know how long she lasted, but she was nearly out of power, on her knees, and holding open Sagittarius' gate as if her life depended on it.

Natsu wasn't having as much trouble, unlike her, but he would ever once in a while get tossed into the snowy mountain. The White Wyvern would turn to Lucy, but before it could reach her, Natsu would appear in front of her.

Happy was flying every which way, grabbing Natsu or she when they were falling off a cliff, dodging the beast's wings, and distracting it as his two friends attacked.

" _Stupid White Wyvern…just die already!_ "

When Natsu was thrown over a cliff again, Happy flew off to get him, leaving Lucy alone. She bit her lip as the beast turned to her and her spirit…at least, she thinks he did. Her vision was beginning to get so blurry that she couldn't tell if he turned toward her or away from her, probably toward her.

"Sagittarius…" Lucy's voice was getting hoarse, but she spoke anyway. "Aim…for his…eyes…."

Without a word, the horse spirit put two arrows on his bow and aimed for the eyes. Lucy knew the shot hit both the eyes when the White Wyvern let out a scream of pain and toppled backwards. With that, Sagittarius disappeared and Lucy collapsed on the snow beneath her. The last thing she heard was Natsu shout her name.

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"It looks like she's not wounded, but she's extremely low on Magic Energy. She probably used up too much and collapsed." That was undoubtedly Happy's voice. She didn't know anyone else who had a high voice, besides her mother, but her voice was soft.

"Hold on, I think she's waking up." That was Natsu's voice. She can spot it in a crowd of any size. The way she could tell was the melody that seemed to ring with his voice and how it soothed her from whatever mood she was in.

"Lucy, wake up."

Lucy moaned and opened her eyes, only to shut them again when the sun blinded her. After blinking rapidly a few times she was able to open her eyes completely. Natsu and Happy, who were sitting next to her, helped her sit up and drink a glass of water they had next to them.

"What happened?" Her voice was still hoarse, but she didn't really care. "Where are we?"

They weren't on Mt. Hakobe that's for sure. Around them were tables, chairs ect…she was lying on a couch.

"We're at the client's house. He said that we could stay here for a while until you were able to walk on your own," Happy had a bit of concern in voice, but hovered over her head. "You passed out during the fight with the White Wyvern."

"Oh yeah," Lucy rubbed her forehead as a headache and what had happened started to come back to her. "I remember now. I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful…"

"Are you kidding?" Natsu flashed her his trademark grin that she never got tired of seeing. "You were awesome! Right before you passed out, you had her horse guy shoot a couple arrows at his eyes to blind him. The fight was a lot easier when he couldn't see! You've gotten reckless, Lucy, just like Fairy Tail!"

Lucy smiled.

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"YOU DID WHAT?!" Master Makarov shouted when Lucy told them about the job. When they walked through the guild hall doors, he had asked where they had been. Natsu bit his lip as she explained and Master Makarov immediately turned to him. "NATSU, YOU'RE IN FOR IT THIS TIME!"

Natsu disappeared around the corner as Makarov chased him down, shouting that he knew he wasn't supposed to take Lucy on any dragon hunting missions and that he was going to get the worst punishment in history of his punishments. Lucy giggled when they was out of sight.

" _Now I know how he got Master to approve…because he never asked…sneaky Natsu! Erza would be ticked off too!_ " Lucy then looked around the guild hall. " _Hold on…where is Erza?_ "

When the redhead was nowhere in sight, Lucy made her way over to Levy who was once again, talking to Gajeel, but this time, they were sitting closer to each other than normal. "Hey Levy!"

Levy turned to Lucy with a smile. "Hey Lu!"

"Hey Bunny Girl!" Gajeel cracked a smile and tried not to laugh.

Lucy just gave him a look, rolled her eyes, and spoke to Levy, "Where's Erza?"

With two words, Levy's smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. "Uh…well…Listen, Lu…"

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Lucy slid the last of her suitcases toward the door before collapsing on her bed with a huge sigh. "It's not the end of the world…I can handle this."

"Handle what?"

Lucy flinched, but didn't scream. She turned to the window as Natsu climbed through and she sat up with a fake smile. "Hey there! You lived!"

Natsu chuckled and sat on the edge of her bed. "Barely."

"Well, that's what you get for taking me on a dragon hunting mission."

"You didn't die."

"I could've."

"You didn't though."

Lucy laughed as Natsu sat next to her. "Did you forget Happy again?"

"No, he was trying to give Carla a fish and it looked like she might take it. I didn't want to ruin his chances so I left him alone."

Lucy nodded understandably. "Yeah, I've seen him do that a few times."

"He's head-over-heels for Carla."

" _And I'm head-over-heels for you…_ " Lucy shook her head and sighed.

"Do you know where Erza is? I figured she'd be chasing me along with Gramps, but she wasn't. Thank goodness though, otherwise I would be dead!" Natsu laughed, but then noticed Lucy's face dropping into a frown as she looked toward the ground. "Luce?"

Lucy sighed and sat criss-cross next to Natsu. "Natsu…I'm leaving…I'm going back to Crocus tomorrow…Erza has already left."

That was the very first time Natsu's heart had stopped.

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 **Cliffhanger! Hahaha! I swear I hate these, but I love to make them! I got this one out rather fast! Yea! The next one will be out quickly as well because I'm a little excited to write the next one.**

 **-zEllie**


	18. Chapter 18

**Another chapter coming at ya!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 18)

The seconds seemed like minutes, the minutes seemed like hours, and the hours seemed like eternity as they looked at each other in silence. Lucy was watching his reaction as Natsu felt his breath catch and couldn't feel his fingers.

After minutes, Natsu was finally able to find his voice, "You're…leaving?"

Lucy nodded.

"…When?"

"Tomorrow…early in the morning…you and Happy will still be asleep."

Natsu looked away for a moment, then back at her. "The war started back up? That means Fairy Tail has to come with you!"

Lucy's eyes widened. She's been having so much fun making friends, going on jobs, and falling in love that she _completely_ forgot about the war against Raven Tail. Lucy knew that they were thinking up a plan to get to what they wanted, but there were two questions: what was their plan and more importantly, what was their true goal?

Lucy pushed aside her thoughts for a moment and shook her head. "No, Fairy Tail isn't coming. Levy is obviously coming with me and Erza has already left…I'm coming back though. I'm only visiting my parents for a week then I'll return…"

That made Natsu feel a little better. Lucy would be coming back after one week, but still, she was leaving. That was enough to make his heart refuse to start back up.

"I'll miss you."

Lucy's heart skipped a beat as she smiled, "I'll miss you too!"

"You'll only be gone for a week, right?"

"Yup! Then I'll be back."

They both knew they really shouldn't take this too hard. Lucy's only leaving for one short week. It's not the end of the world. What's the deal?

Natsu gulped, "Luce, if Raven Tail makes a move, promise me you'll come back to Fairy Tail, no matter what your parents say."

Lucy hesitated before nodding, "Sure."

Before she knew it, Natsu was holding her hand close to his face. "Do you promise?"

Lucy blushed, "I promise."

Natsu grinned before pressing his lips against the back of her hand, "good."

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Levy had just finished putting her books into her bag before there was a knock on her door. "Come in!" She called, thinking it was just Lucy.

However, when the door opened, it wasn't Lucy.

"Oh, hey Gajeel! I'm a little surprised you're up this early in the morning. Did you come to say goodbye?"

Gajeel grinned, "Yeah, but I also wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" Levy stood up with a smile.

"When you get back, you and I should go on a job with Lily. Salamander has been taking Bunny Girl on some and I thought it would be fun if you tagged along on a few of mine as well."

" _Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Is he asking me on a date?! Stay calm, Levy!_ " Levy gripped the edge of her dress to calm herself down and cleared her throat, "Yeah! I'd love to! Sounds fun!"

Gajeel grinned wider. "Great! Let me help you with your bags."

"Thank you!" Levy spoke with a little more excitement than she should have.

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Natsu opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling as the sun shone in the room. As he turned right, the other side of the bed was empty and neatly made. He sat up as a sigh escaped his lips and a saddened expression came over his face. She was really gone. He was hoping that when Lucy moved around the room, it would wake him up so he could say goodbye to her, but apparently, he was wrong. Happy was still sound asleep next to him as Natsu scooped him up and felt the room.

Downstairs, everybody seemed so quiet. Lisanna, Wendy, Carla, and Cana seemed a lot less cheerful than normal. Mira, even, didn't have that joyful smile as usual. The guys seemed to be different, especially Gajeel, but that's probably because of Levy. Everybody in the room missed Lucy (and Levy). One look at them, and even the dense dragon slayer could tell. Lucy wasn't a princess they were protecting for the king anymore; she was a member of their family, with or without their emblem. Natsu could tell that it wasn't just his friends who lost their joyful selves, it was also the room. It had lost its glow and homey feeling. Without the bubbly blonde, the guild hall just didn't feel like home anymore.

"Natsu, you okay?" Gildarts, who was standing next to him, put a hand on his shoulder, seeming to know what he was thinking.

Natsu hummed, but didn't answer.

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Lucy leaned her head against the window as Levy rattled on about the "date" she and Gajeel would be going on when they get back to Magnolia. She was happy for her friend, she really was, but she was too upset about leaving Fairy Tail, and more specifically, Natsu, to tune in on anything at the moment. Plus, she was really tired, getting up early always makes her eyes hurt.

"You alright, Lu?" Levy noticed her friend's gloomy aura as she took a breath in her rant.

"I'm fine…"

Levy sighed, scooted closer to her friend in front of her, and leaned on her elbows which rested on her knees, "What's up?"

Lucy smiled at her friend's concern, but it was short lived. "Levy, I'm fine…just tired."

Levy raised an eyebrow. "This doesn't have to do with Natsu, does it?"

Lucy didn't answer.

"Hah!" Levy smiled and pumped her fist in the air. "I got ya! Now tell me everything!"

"If you think we kissed," Lucy puffed out her cheek and pouted, "I hate to break this to you, but we didn't!"

"Dang it!" Levy slumped against her seat.

Lucy sighed, "Well…unless you want to count my hand…"

Levy bounced back up, "He kissed you?!"

"He kissed my _hand!_ " Lucy huffed and rubbed the back of her right hand where the warmth still lingered.

"Still, he _kissed_ you! Tell me everything, Girlfriend!" Levy, with a huge smile, grabbed Lucy's hands and squeezed them.

Lucy bit her lip, "It's really nothing…I just miss him already."

"You loooove him, don't you?!"

She shot the blue haired girl a death glare.

Levy giggled, "I'm just kidding…but seriously, do you love him?"

Lucy hesitated, "…yeah, I do…but it doesn't matter."

"What do you mean 'it doesn't matter', Lu?! You're in love with Natsu! That's amazing! It's great to be in love with someone! You two are so adorable as well!"

"Thanks, Levy, but I'm a princess. It wouldn't work out."

Levy grew silent as a frown took over her smiling face. She's right: she _is_ a princess and it wouldn't work out. She searched for supportive words to help her friend as the two remained silent, holding hands.

"You know," Lucy started, "If I ever get the Fairy Tail emblem, it would be right here." She rubbed her hand where Natsu kissed her, "and it would be the color of his hair."

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"Mom!"

Lucy launched herself into her mother's loving arms. She may not have wanted to leave Fairy Tail, but that didn't mean she wasn't happy to see her mother.

Layla squeezed her daughter right back and kissed her cheeks, nose, and forehead. "Lucy! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Mom!" Lucy hugged her tighter.

When the two pulled apart, Layla smiled widely. "How was Fairy Tail?"

"They're the best! I've made so many new friends! You would love them!"

"I got to know a few of them while they stayed here."

Lucy looked around, "Where's Dad and Erza?"

"Your father is taking a nap and Erza is around here somewhere," Layla glanced around. "I know she arrived, I remember greeting her."

"Alright then."

The queen turned to Levy as the bookworm was patiently waiting for her attention before bowing politely, "Hello, You're Majesty."

"Hello Levy," The queen smiled. "How are Lucy's studies coming along?"

"They're coming along great, You're Highness. They dropped for a little while because of distraction, but they quickly picked back up."

Lucy silently let out a sigh of relief and mouthed "thank you" from behind her mother. If Layla found out that she was distracted because of a boy, who knows what'll happen. Levy smiled at her.

"I'm gonna go find Dad and wake him up," Lucy then said with a smile. "I haven't seen him in what feels like forever!"

"Alright then!" Layla smiled, "don't be late for lunch. You two must be hungry."

"I won't."

Lucy ran off toward her parents' room, excited to see her father. As she reached the doors, she knocked twice, knowing she wasn't going to get an answer. She entered the room with a huge smile, "Dad!" It was dark, but she could still see the king-size bed and the red sheets. " _Huh? I always thought the sheets were purple. The maids must've changed them while I was gone. I wonder if they changed my sheets too._ " Lucy's smile grew wider in excitement as she bounced up to the bed. "Dad! I'm back! Wake up so I can hug you! Unless you want me to tackle-" Lucy turned the lamp on and saw something she never expected to see.

There, King Jude Heartfilia lay in the bed, dead.

Lucy screamed.

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 **My heart is pumping so fast at the feels I created. WAAAHHHHH! SOMEONE COMFORT ME! Though you all must hate me right now because of the last cliffhanger and this one is even more terrible. This chapter is terrible! It's so depressing (except the GaLe moment)! Don't worry, happy endings come to all my stories!**

 **-zEllie**


	19. Chapter 19

**Since you all hate me right now, I'll write another depressing chapter. I can't guarantee any cliffhangers though XD.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 19 )

Levy stood in the rain as a mud puddle formed underneath her and her black clothes became more soaked by the minute. She didn't bother listening to the orator because so many concerns filled her head. The first one was obvious: the girl standing next to her. Lucy was a mess. She was dripping wet and dressed in black, with a pale face and red eyes. Even in the rain, you could tell she was crying even though her sobs were silent.

Levy reached up and grabbed her friend's cold hand. Lucy didn't turn or acknowledge her, but she gave her hand a hearty squeeze, which Levy squeezed back to. That was the first concern when she heard about the king's death: Lucy is mentally destroyed. How was she going to be able to piece her friend back together?

The second concern that filled her head was the queen. Even though Levy wasn't good friends with Layla, she'll do what she can to support her as she mourns and takes the king's position. She would be extremely busy as she takes King Jude's responsibilities on her already heavy shoulders. She would most likely break because of all the stress, especially after just losing a loved one.

Another concern was more of a financial concern, but Levy still took it into consideration: what was going to happen to Fiore? Never once, in all the history of the kingdom has a woman, on his own, ruled Fiore. As said before, Layla would be extremely busy and Lucy would quite possibly be helping her with her duties. Levy could tell that most of the people of Fiore would never agree to this. They wouldn't want a widow and her inexperienced daughter ruling over them. They'll want a king…and Levy was sure that the news about the king's death has already begun to spread.

Other concerns filled her head as well, but the biggest concern to Levy was a confusing and strange one: where was Erza?

Erza loves Lucy as much as she did; she would not miss this funeral. Even if Erza was sick in bed, she would still get up and come to support her friend. As Levy looked around the garden at all the people dressed in black, the red headed knight was nowhere to be seen. At first, Levy had thought that maybe she was with Jellal, a childhood friend she has told Lucy and she about, but if that was the case, Erza wouldn't leave without telling anyone. Where was she? Wherever she was, Levy prayed that she was okay.

Levy let out a sigh as she took her other hand that wasn't holding Lucy's, and put it against her heart, " _please be safe, Erza._ "

Levy and Lucy watched as a couple knights began to lower the coffin down into the mud and the two stayed there until the king was berried. After a few hours, the rain had finally stopped and everyone had left. Lucy continued to stand next to her father's grave as the sun disappeared over the horizon.

"Lu," Levy spoke in a soft voice. Her hand was still in hers and she gave it a squeeze. "Come on…let's get you home before you catch a cold…"

Lucy hesitated. She had stopped crying, but Levy could see that she was still just as broken. "Okay…" She muttered and slowly turned around.

Her voice was cracked and dry which didn't surprise Levy in the least, but she put her free hand on the blonde's shoulder and squeezed it, giving her a weak, sad smile. "It'll be okay, Lu…"

They both knew it was a lie…

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"Nnnnnnnnaaarrgghhh!" Natsu tugged tightly at his hair as he slumped in his seat. "I'm so bored!"

"Take a job," Cana stated obviously as she lifted her barrel back to her lips. It's been only two days and Natsu was already suffering? There's something going on here…

"It's not the same without Lucy," He grumbled in reply. "Happy and I have been taking jobs with her ever since she arrived! It just doesn't feel right without her!"

Cana's lips turned upright as she gulped down a mouthful of whatever she was dinking and set the barrel back down in front of her. "Sounds like someone fell for the pretty little princess."

Natsu, oblivious as he is, raised an eyebrow as Cana wrapped her legs around her barrel. "What do you mean by that? Are you saying that I tripped and fell on her or something?"

Cana couldn't help it. She burst out laughing, calling the attention of many guild members. They all turned away however, thinking she was just drunk…Cana was actually getting a little tipsy, but she could still tell from one person to another.

"What's so funny?!" Natsu huffed, getting annoyed. First, Lucy left, then, he's totally bored out of his thick skull, and now, he's being laughed at for asking what Cana meant when she asked a question?!

When Cana's laughter finally died down, she shook her head and said, "you're so unbelievable, Natsu…"

"What'd I say?!"

"Nothing nothing…" Cana looked away for a moment, but quickly turned back to the dragon slayer. She could just read her cards, but hearing this from his mouth was more official. "Tell me, Natsu, do you miss Lucy?"

"Of course I do!"

"Do you like to be around her?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't hang out with her, would I?"

"Would you get on a twelve hour train ride just to see her?"

Natsu hesitated, but only because he felt nausea from the word "train" and he didn't want to throw up. "Yeah, it'd be worth it."

"If she was in danger, would you do everything in your power to save her?"

"Of course I would!"

"One last question: Do you feel anything warm inside of you when she says your name or when anything happens around her?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "Uh…I wouldn't call it warm, but I feel a tingling feeling inside of me whenever I'm around her."

Cana smiled. It was official: the idiot was in love with Fiore's royal princess. That sentence made her want to laugh, but it was pretty tragic as well as hilarious.

"What do all these questions mean, Cana?"

Cana glanced at the idiot-in-love and smiled, "You'll find out soon enough, Lover Boy."

Before he could question, a pair caught his eye and he turned to his left to get a better look at them. Gray and Juvia walked in the room side by side talking about something that happened a while ago. They would've been out of earshot, but with Natsu's sensitive ears, he could hear them loud and clear.

"Don't worry about it, Juvia," Gray had said when he walked in next to her. "You don't have to do anything for me."

"I know, but I think I _need_ to repay you. I'm sure that man would've done much more than kiss me if you hadn't been around. How about we go to a café I saw down the street, my treat."

"Sorry, Juvia, I can't. I'm a bit busy…"

Natsu watched as Juvia's face fell. All she wanted was Gray's attention and he couldn't even give her that. When is Ice Breath going to grow a pair and finally say yes to one of her dates?!

Gray seemed to think the same thing as Natsu was as he turned back to her and bit his lip. "…maybe tomorrow for lunch?"

Juvia's face lifted back up. It took all of her willpower not to squeal and jump on him in a death hug. "Really? You're free tomorrow?" She had talked to Mira a few days ago and was given advice to take it slow around and keep control around him. It seemed to have worked!

"Most likely," Gray managed a small smile. "Something might come up though. If nothing does, I'll meet you there at noon."

Juvia smiled back, but wider, "Sounds great!"

Cana was watching the entire time, but she didn't have sensitive ears like Natsu so she couldn't hear anything. She looked from the pair to Natsu's reaction to see if she could figure out what they were talking about, but Natsu seemed a bit annoyed so it was hard to tell. " _Maybe their talking about Lucy…but Juvia wouldn't have such a happy look on her face if that was the case._ "

Natsu suddenly got up from his seat and walked toward them. Cana watched with a raised eyebrow as he approached them.

Gray saw him coming and was about to say something (and most likely start a brawl), but Natsu spoke first:

"You guys are annoying me." With a grab of both Juvia and Gray's shoulder, Natsu shoved the two together, causing their lips to crash together and the whole guild to gasp and stare. The stripper and stalker finally kissed.

The guild erupted into cheers as the two pulled apart embarrassingly. Natsu walked back to his seat next to Cana as Mira fainted and the guild encircled the pair, telling them how happy they were that they got together.

Cana eyed Natsu suspiciously and he turned to her when he felt her stare. "What? Lucy told me one day that wanted them to kiss. Therefore, I made them kiss."

Cana couldn't contain the smile. Oh! So many things to tell Mira the Matchmaker about! Oh! So many questions to ask Lucy when she gets back… "She's not here to see it though."

"I know," Natsu leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "But now she has something to look forward to when she gets back."

Cana shook her head. The idiot and the princess…she'll have a lot of fun with these two… "If you miss her so badly, why don't you just write a letter to her?"

Natsu suddenly sat up in his seat, "Awesome idea, Cana! Why didn't I think of that?!"

" _Because you're an idiot._ "

Natsu got up and shook Mira awake, asking her where a pencil and paper were. Mira pointed in the right direction before getting up and joining the crowd of people happy for the new couple. Natsu came back shortly with a pencil and paper and immediately began writing on it.

Cana leaned over her barrel to see what he was writing. "Hold on, Natsu! You've got to spell her name right! It's not 'Loosey'!"

"Then how do you spell her name?!" Natsu pouted.

Cana shook her head, "L-U-C-Y."

Natsu scribbled it down and began to write again.

Cana sighed in frustration, "you need to spell other words correctly too!" Natsu let out a groan and Cana laughed. "Here, let me help you…"

The two began to write Natsu's letter and the room was a lot happier than it had been since Lucy left, but it was still wasn't as homey…

Suddenly the door burst open, causing everyone to look in the direction. Max stood there, panting for a moment before shouting, "terrible news! Terrible news!"

The guild hall grew silent as Max told them of the king's death.

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Levy was in the library setting Lucy's study books away for now. They wouldn't be getting them out anytime soon so she might as well put them away. Lucy would be left alone for now, but after a few days, Layla is going to ask her to help her with her duties and Lucy had too kind of a heart to turn her mother down.

Levy sighed, "…and there's still no sign of Erza…"

"Knight-Captain Erza?"

Levy turned around to meet eyes with a maid, "Oh, hello Ms. Spetto. I didn't realize you were in the room with me. Yes, I'm talking about Captain Erza. She wasn't at the funeral and I'm worried something is wrong."

Ms. Spetto thought for a moment before speaking, "I see what you mean, but all the knights have been surveying the king and queen's chambers and searching Crocus for the king's murderer so Captain Erza must be leading them. I'm sure that's why she wasn't at the funeral. You shouldn't worry, Dear." Ms. Spetto pat Levy's arm.

"I guess you're right…but still, I'm worried…"

"Friends worry over one another, don't they?" the older woman smiled. "Speaking of which, I have a cup of tea here for Princess Lucille, but I think someone closer to her should give it to her."

Levy smiled back as she took the steaming cup. "Of course I'll deliver it to her. I'll let her know it was from you."

"Thank you, Miss McGarden."

The blue haired girl made her way to her friend's bedroom and knocked twice when she got there. Levy knew she wasn't going get an answer, but she thought it was polite and a warning of letting Lucy know that someone was coming in.

Levy opened the door and flashed the blonde a sad smile, who was lying on her bed and facing the door. "Hey Lu."

Lucy hesitated before responding, "…Hey Levy."  
"How are you doing?"

Lucy hummed, but didn't answer.

Levy flashed her another sad smile. "I brought you some tea. Ms. Spetto thought you might like it," Levy set it down on her nightstand and continued when Lucy didn't comment. "Do you need anything?"

"…No…"

Levy blinked back sympathetic tears, "Do you wanna…talk about something?"

"…No…"

"…Do you wanna be alone?"

Lucy's voice broke, "…No…"

With a sigh and a third sad smile, Levy walked over to the other side of the bed and shrugged off her shoes. Lucy turned around as Levy laid down next to her and hugged her friend tightly, tears hitting the pillow. Levy hugged back just as tightly and rubbed her friend's back to comfort her, not knowing what to say.

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 **And there is your depressing chapter. I hope you liked it (you probably didn't because it was depressing…) and the next chapter is coming soon.**

 **-zEllie**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry this is late! I've had homework and more homework to do! I've also been helping my new friend come up with ideas for his story. I don't know what he's going to call it yet, but when he posts the first chapter, I'll link it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 20)

Levy's prediction came true, but it didn't surprise her in the least. Lucy was left alone for a few days before Queen Layla came and asked her for help with all the responsibilities lain on her shoulders. Lucy just wanted to lie down and sleep and sleep and sleep…but she couldn't say no to her mother.

The first task was easy; Lucy didn't even have to leave her room: go through a bunch of mail. Lucy called it "pity mail", but she would never say that out loud. Civilians and distant relatives sent them to apologize for her father's death. Lucy knows they're sympathetic and she's thankful, but truthfully, Lucy hated pity mail.

They all stated the same thing: "we're sorry for your loss…He was a good man…Blah blah blah _blah_!" It just set her teeth on edge. The thing she hated most was that it reminded her of something that she wanted to forget, but Lucy didn't have the heart to just throw them in the trash and say she went through them. As much as she hated pity mail, she agreed to go through them and _read_ each one of them.

Lucy didn't think that reading each one wouldn't take too long. She figured that there would be about ten…boy, she was wrong.  
There was probably _hundreds_! Lucy nearly fainted; there were _so_ many! Piles of them! And she agreed to read them _all_?!

Lucy picked up the first one: "Queen Layla Heartfilia" with her address below the name. Well, most of the letters addressed only her mother and she was taught not to open letters that weren't addressed to her so she'll put those in a pile. Some other letters addressed both her mother _and_ her. So, she decided to read those…thank goodness most of them addressed only her mother otherwise she'll have a splendid time reading all of them.

"Queen Layla Heartfilia" this pile over here… "Queen Layla and Princess Lucille Heartfilia" Lucy skimmed the letter before throwing it in a pile over here…

It seemed she had been going through them for about an hour as she skimmed the letters addressed to her and her mother and throwing the ones in a pile that was only addressed to her mother. She started to get really bored and was tired of reading the pity mail. Then one letter caught her eye:

"Lucy Heartfilia"

This letter was just addressed to her, not her and her mother, just her…and she wasn't addressed by her title and her real name either. It just said Lucy.

Curiously, Lucy glanced at the return address and gasped aloud when it said "Fairy Tail guild hall, Magnolia, Ocean Avenue". Her friends sent her a pity letter?! Franticly, Lucy ripped it open, surprised how eager she was to read because a few seconds ago, she didn't think she could read another one without falling asleep.

The first thing Lucy did was glance down at who it was from: "Sincerely, Natsu". Her eyes began to widen; Natsu sent her a letter? She's a little surprised he was able to spell "sincerely" right. After all she'd known him, you'd think he wouldn't have very many brain cells. He must have enough to spell "sincerely" correctly.

Lucy started at the top:

"Dear Lucy,

I heard about your father and I want to say that I'm really really really sorry about it. I wish I could be there for you, but you're half way across the world. You can pretend I'm with you in your heart."

As if on cue, Lucy's heart began to beat louder than normal. She giggled a little at the words. "really really really" that sounds like something Natsu would put in a letter.

"I know you're upset about your dad. I've been there before too. When I was a kid, a dragon found me in the middle of the forest and took me in. He taught everything I know about my magic and raised me. His name is Igneel and he's like a dad to me. One day though, I woke up and Igneel wasn't there. I waited for him to come back, but he didn't. After a while, I ended up at Fairy Tail. My point is though, you lost your father and I know it hurts, but something that makes me feel better is all those good times I spent with Igneel: the jokes, new experiences, learning my magic, flying around on his back…those times makes me smile. Of course, you'll still miss your dad, but all those good times you had with him won't ever leave you."

Lucy was trembling and she realized she hasn't smiled like this since she first got home before she saw her father dead. She burst into tears and hugged the letter to her chest all the while shouting, "thank you, Natsu! Thank you!" over and over until she didn't have any tears left. He was right: the good times with her father did make her feel better. She remembers running up to him as a little girl and after summoning a spirit for the first time so she could show him her new skills. His proud smile never left his face. She remembers him teaching her chess when she was a bit older. She never liked chess, but she loved to hang out with her father even though she'd lose every time. After she was able to calm down a bit, she pulled the letter away from her chest to finish reading.

"I hope that helps you feel a bit better. I have some good news for you to cheer you up: Ice Princess and Juvia finally kissed."

Lucy gasped and eagerly continued reading.

"I was super bored because you weren't here and Juvia and Droopy Eyes suddenly walk in. It sounded like they were going on a date tomorrow and I got annoyed watching them. So I went over to them and pushed them into each other. You said you wanted them to kiss to I made them kiss for you. I know you weren't there, but now you have something to look forward to when you get back.

"Besides that, everything has been boring since you've left. The guild hall has lost that homey feeling and everybody is so quiet. I haven't been going on a job because it wouldn't feel the same without you. Happy said he misses you, but I argued that I missed you more. Cana then gave me the idea to write you a letter, but she said I should spell the words right so she's helped me. So, ta-da! I miss you, Lucy! I can't wait for you to come back!

"Sincerely, Natsu".

Awww! Natsu made Gray and Juvia kiss just because she wanted them to? He's so sweet! And he misses her! Lucy couldn't contain the smile or the blush that came to her face, but then she giggled and rolled her eyes when she read that Cana helped him write the letter. That explains why everything is spelled right. Also, Natsu wouldn't go on a job without her just because it didn't feel the same! Natsu was so sweet…well when he wants to be of course.

Lucy hopped up from her sitting position on her bed and ran to her desk for a pen and paper.

"Dear Natsu,

"Thank you so much! This means a lot to me and I can't even…"

Nah! Lucy crumbled the paper up and threw it over her shoulder. She sounds too desperate! Let's try again:

"Dear Natsu,

"It's great to hear from you. Thank you for missing me and for the letter…"

Lucy raised her eyebrow. "Thank you for missing me"? Who says that?! She crumbled it up before throwing it over her shoulder to join the other one. Now she sounds lovesick…

"Dear Natsu,

"Hey Natsu! Writing letters to one another is a great idea! Why didn't I think of that? I'll be honest, I was a little surprised to see one from you, but it made me happy."

Lucy read the beginning of her letter twice before shrugging and continuing.

"Thank you for cheering me up. Believe me, I needed it. I'm sorry about your dad. It's good to see we're on the same page and I hope you find him someday. My mom is giving me some chores to do because she can't take my dad's duties along with her own on her shoulders. So I'm going to help her out to make it a little easier for her. My first task was going through a bunch of pity mail from my distant relatives and random civilians and I came across the one you sent me. Thank you for the advice; I do feel a lot better!

"You made Juvia and Gray kiss?! Yes! Thank you! I wish I was there, but I can imagine it all in my head and that's good enough. I can't wait to come back and tease them!

Oh, speaking of coming back, I know the original plans were that I'd stay here for a week, but, as you know, my dad died so we're going to stay longer than that. And like I said earlier, my mom needs help. I don't know when Levy and I will be coming back, but hopefully it'll be sooner than later. Sorry!

Also, I have one question: Erza wouldn't happen to be at the guild hall with you, would she? She wasn't at my dad's funeral and I haven't seen her, not even when I arrived. I'm a little worried.

"Sincerely, Lucy".

Lucy dropped her pen on her desk and sighed before proofreading it. Alrighty then! All she has to do is put the address, return address, and Natsu's name on the envelope and send it off…Oh wait! She forgot something!

Lucy picked up her pen again and added below the signature:

"P.S. I miss you too".

Lucy quickly scribbled down the two addresses before putting Natsu's name above it. She grabbed the letter and left her room as she licked the envelope and sealed it. The maids seemed a little surprised that Lucy was out of her room. She didn't blame them; if she was a maid, she would be surprised too. Lucy hadn't left her room ever since the funeral and she was smiling and humming as well.

She was just happy she got to talk to Natsu…without really _talking_ to him, of course…

Lucy stuck her letter in the mail and smiled widely, "there! All done!" She skipped happily to her room, feeling like she could read both piles of the pity mail.

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"What?!" Natsu exclaimed when Wendy finished reading Lucy's letter to him. "She's not coming back?!"

Wendy gave Natsu the letter and a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Natsu."

Natsu groaned, "you gotta be kidding…"

"Well, she _did_ just lose her dad so it makes sense to me."

"I'm never going to survive that long," Natsu sighed and glanced at the letter. "There's something written after the signature."

Wendy leaned toward him to look. "That says 'I miss you too'. "

Natsu's heart skipped a beat, but he ignored it.

"I'm a little worried now…"

"Huh?" The pink haired man turned to the youngest dragon slayer. "Worried about what?"

"Erza. She's not here and Lucy says that when she arrived, she wasn't there either. Do you think something happened?"

Natsu blinked a few times. "Are you kidding? What could possibly happen to that monster? She's fine. She's probably with Jellal and forgot to meet them up at the castle."

"Maybe…but what about the funeral? Erza would never miss that. She and Lucy are good friends."

"She probably didn't hear about his death."

Wendy hummed and glanced at Carla who stayed silent the entire time. "Maybe…"

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The read head thought that she would never be able to open her eyes again. They felt molded together. They were so hot! Man, they must be desperate for information…stupid fire wizard…

She just prayed she wasn't blind…

Her eyes weren't the only thing that was burned. She knew her legs and arms were burned for sure. Her clothes were torn as well and she could hear the drip dropping in the cold, silent room from her own blood. She was tied to the ceiling, she could tell, and her arms were going numb. Scratch that, going _more_ numb that already.

" _I've been through worse,_ " she decided and she suddenly heard the door in front of her open before footsteps made their way toward her.

"I'll ask you this once more: What does Fairy Tail plan to do next?"

When the red head didn't answer, she felt a hand suddenly slap against her cheek. Thanks to the burn, it was ten times worse than normal as she let out a scream and started coughing up more blood. It didn't matter though, she was sure there was already a ton of blood dripping down her chin from before.

When her coughing fit ended, the woman in front of her spoke again, "do you know why you're in here?"

She didn't answer.

"You were in the king's chambers when we murdered him. That's why. We can't have you go tattle on us and foil our plans, can we?"

"You cowards…" She mumbled.

"Now tell me…unless you wouldn't mind the rest of your clothes coming off," the feminine voice was followed by the sound of a knife being sharpened, "what does Fairy Tail plan to do next?"

The red head lifted her head, even though she couldn't see the woman in front of her thanks to her eyes sealed shut. "I've told you this once, and now I'll tell you again! Listen closely: I don't care what you do to me, but I will _never_ betray my family! I'd rather die!"

"…well then, we can arrange that."

The red head left the dagger press against her skin, cutting her deep along with the rest of the little clothes she wore falling off. She screamed loudly and felt exposed. A cackling laugh rang out in front of her and the female in front continued to cut the naked redhead wherever she pleased, enjoying the sound of her screams.

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 **Man! This chapter is crappy! I did terrible on it! Please forgive me!**

 **-zEllie**


	21. Chapter 21

**WARNING: I HAD MAJOR WRITERS' BLOCK SO THIS MIGHT BE A CRAPPY CHAPTER!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 21)

"I…am… _dying_!" Natsu banged his head on the wooden table in the guild hall. The thump was so loud, you'd think he'd get a concussion, but Natsu is Natsu and he'll be just fine.

Mira the Matchmaker shook her head. "He's totally head-over-heels for Lucy! They've been sending letters back and forth for at least two weeks now, but it seemed to help Natsu function more…but he's still lovesick. He and Lucy are so cute!"

"I was talking to Lucy a few days ago before she left," Lisanna, who was standing next to Mira at the bar, spoke while looking at Natsu. "She really likes Natsu, but she doesn't think she has a chance with him."

"She likes him back?!" Mira glanced at her sister with wide eyes.

Lisanna looked back at her before gasping and slamming her hand against her mouth, "o-oh crap! I promised Lucy I wouldn't tell anyone! M-Mira, please don't tell her that I told you!"

Mira desperately wanted to shout it out to the world, but a request from her sister was never ignored. "Of course, Sis! You're secret is safe with me."

Lisanna let out a sigh of relief.

After her sister calmed down a bit, Mira pressed further, "what do you mean she thinks she doesn't have a chance with him?! He obviously likes her and they've been so close for the entire time she's stayed here! Why would she think that?!"  
"She's a princess, Mira."

Mira grew silent, giving Lisanna a chance to continue:

"She told me that she would end up married to a foreign prince or some rich man because she was a princess. I asked her if that was really what she wanted. Of course, she said no and I told her to do something about it. She told me she didn't have the authority, but I said to get her parents to do something about it. She didn't get a chance to say something back though because Natsu asked her if she was ready for a mission they were going to go on."

Mira bit her lip and looked down at the counter she was currently wiping down. It made sense though. "Well…when you think of it that way, she really doesn't have a chance with him…"

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The redhead was able to open her eyes now, but she had to blink more often than normal because they would sting if she kept them open for too long. Since there was no one in the room, however, she decided to keep them shut so they could continue to heal.

The redhead didn't want to look down at herself because she knew she had horrible wounds all over her body; she wouldn't be surprised if she had scars. Her body hurt everywhere and hanging from the ceiling didn't help at all.

But she would gladly go through this everyday, all day, if it meant protecting her guild…

The redhead prayed that all her friends were okay. She had no idea what was happening because she never got to leave the room. She hasn't even seen the sunlight in days; she has no idea what time it was.

As she struggled to break free from her chains (since it was the only thing she could do to keep herself from dying of boredom), the door suddenly opened. She opened her eyes to see who was entering:

A girl.

The redhead growled immediately. How many times did she have to tell her?! She wasn't going to give them any information! She could torture her however she liked, but she'd never betray her family.

The girl was a lot prettier than her voice gave away. Her voice sounded almost like nails-on-a-chalk-board. Another way to describe it was on the edge of insanity. The girl, however, had long, beautiful, curly pink hair reminding her of Natsu. She was short, but busty and wore a short, red dress with a blue cape.

As the girl approached her, the redhead opened her mouth to snap at her, telling her that she wouldn't say anything, but the girl spoke first:

"Are you Erza Scarlet?"

Erza's eyes widened (despite the pain). This was not the girl with the insane voice who's been torturing her. She was a different girl and her voice was just as pretty as she was. She stuttered in shock before answering:

"Y-yes."

In a blink of an eye, Erza's chains holding her to the ceiling were broken and she was on her knees. Oh man! Did her forearms hurt! With her arms hanging like that for days put cramps in them!

She felt something drape around her naked body and saw that it was the blue cloak the girl was wearing. Erza met her eyes and the pink haired girl smiled as she helped her up.

"My name is Meldy and I'm a friend of Jellal's. He asked me to come save you."

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Lucy wiped sweat from her brow even though she wasn't tired…well, actually, she _was_ tired… _mentally_ tired.

The number of hours she's been cooped in her mom and dad's office helping out with the duties was beyond her. It seems she got up, had breakfast, worked on anything her mom needed help with, and the next thing she knew, the sun was going down.

She was beyond _exhausted_ …

"Lucy, Sweetie?"

Lucy looked up to see her mom standing in front of her, wearing black. She gulped as pain hit her. She had stopped wearing black the next day after her dad's funeral because it reminded her of what she wanted to forget and besides…she didn't like the color black.

Lucy shook the painful thought off and gave her mom a supportive smile, "hey mom! I finished that assignment you gave me." Lucy stretched and swallowed her pride before asking, "is there anything else you need me to do?"

"No, there is nothing."

Lucy couldn't hold back the sigh of relief that escaped from her lips.

Layla laughed, "I know this is tough, but I really do appreciate the help."

"No, it's fine. I love to help!"

The widowed queen smiled at her daughter before sitting down in front of her. "Lucy, I wanted to talk to you about something."

" _Oh no,_ " Lucy thought before sitting up nervously. "What is it?"

"Well…the people have been complaining since your father's passing…" Layla had to pause to swallow thickly. "…and guess what they've been saying."

"That they don't want a widowed queen and her inexperienced daughter to rule over them. They want a king."

"Exactly…This leaves us in a corner. I need to make a decision before any rioting starts. I don't have a male heir to take the place of your father and the people have been demanding…"

Lucy's heart began to pound with panic " _Whatever she's going to say next…I'm 100% positive that I'm not going to like it…_ "

There was a pause before Layla continued, "they want you arranged in a marriage…and not just any arranged marriage with a prince…they want you arranged to be married to Advisor Ivan…"

…

"What?..."

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 **The. Most. Disappointing. Chapter. Ever. *bangs head on computer keyboard*. YOU ALL HATE ME RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF IT WAS TERRIBLE, SHORT, AND HAD A CLIFFHANGER! DON'T WORRY! I HATE MYSELF TOO! *bangs head again* SOMEONE KILL ME!**

 **-zEllie**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey! I'm back! Thank you all for your lovely comments and reviews! Even though my last chapter was crappy, you all still supported me! *puts hand against heart* hit me in the feels guys…I would hug all of you if I could!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 22)

Lucy pushed her bedroom door open before slamming it shut and collapsing on her bed as a scream escaped her lips.

"Lucy!" Layla opened the doors after it was slammed in her face. She marched over to her daughter, whose face was in her pillow, and put her hands on her hips. "Don't just leave the room when I'm talking to you!"

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!" Lucy screamed, lifting her pillow to look her mother in the eyes. "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME MARRY IVAN! I WON'T DO IT!"

"Lucy!" Her mother gave a disapproving look. "Listen to me!"

"NO!"

"Lucy-"

"GO AWAY!" Tears of frustration and anger ran down Lucy's cheeks before she had a chance to hold them back. "I don't even like Ivan as a person! And he's like…twenty years older than me!"

"Honey, you didn't let me finish-"

"If you say this is for the good of the kingdom, then why don't _you_ marry him?!" Lucy still didn't like the idea…especially the thought of Ivan being her step-father. "Why are you forcing-"

"LUCY!" The queen finally got her daughter's attention. Lucy blinked a few times at her, finally staying silent, causing Layla to sigh and sit down next to her on her bed, wiping a few of her tears away. "I'm not going to force you to marry Advisor Ivan."

Lucy blinked again, surprised by her mother's words, "you're not?"

"No!" Layla laughed before hugging her daughter. "Sweetie, I would never force you to marry anyone! Of course, I'd rather have you arranged in a marriage at birth, but I would never do that to you!"

Lucy squeezed her mother back, "thank you, Mom! Thank you!"

"But listen, Sweetheart," The queen pulled back from her daughter a bit to get her attention. "I think you _should_ marry Advisor Ivan. I know you don't like it, but you really _should_."  
"Why should I? For the good of the kingdom?"

"Yes. Lucy, ever since your father's…" Layla looked away and let out an audible gulp before continuing, "…passing, the trust our people once had in us is plummeting. We need to do something…something big…like marrying a rich noble to be the new king."

"But why _Ivan?_ "

"There's been certain people-or more like fans of Advisor Ivan that have been telling people about how much he's been helping our family."

"They're lies," Lucy muttered. She didn't expect her mother to hear her, but it didn't matter if she did or didn't because it wouldn't change anything.

"No, they're true; he's been a big blessing to us. People have been saying that he's wise and would be a great ruler since he helped your father so much. Others began to agree and now they want him as king.

"Believe me when I say I would marry Advisor Ivan, but I'm getting old, Lucy," Layla took her daughter's hands in hers and Lucy could see (as if on cue) faint wrinkles in her mom's hands. She looked up at her face and could see even more. "I don't have a male heir and I'm too old to provide one. You, however, are young enough to provide a son."

Lucy looked away. She had a point: her mom was too old, but Lucy was young enough. She also happened to be at that age where she needed to get married (well, actually no, but seventeen/eighteen is the usually the age you would be married if you were royalty). They would possibly be removed from office by the people if there wasn't a king soon and who knows what'll happen to them then. They could be living on the street for all they knew.

"Lucy," Her mom's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "I know you don't like it, but _please!_...please just promise me you'll think about it."

Lucy hesitated, but nodded, "okay mom, I'll think about it, but I'm not guarantying anything."

Layla smiled, "I know, Sweetie." With a kiss on the forehead, she queen stood up and began to walk toward the door.

"Mom?"

"Hmm?" Layla turned back around. "What is it, Lucy?"

Lucy shifted uncomfortably in her position on her bed. She refused to meet her eyes, "…there's this boy…"

"Lucy."

With that one word, her name, Lucy shut her mouth. "Okay."

Layla didn't give her daughter a smile this time, but a nod before leaving the room.

Lucy sighed and buried her face in her pillow after the door clicked shut. After her mom's sweet and sincere words about never arranging a marriage for her at birth because she wanted her to make her own choice, Lucy thought that she was allowed to marry anybody. For a while there, she believed that her mother wouldn't mind anyone, but that wasn't true. Lucy wasn't allowed to marry anybody she wanted, she was allowed to marry any _noble_ she wanted…not a common boy.

"Natsu…"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"So…you want to marry Natsu?" Levy asked the next day after Lucy explained what happened.

"What?!" The sentence made Lucy go red in her pale face. "No! No! No! No! I didn't mean it like that! I just…well you know…and…"

Lucy could already feel the teasing coming on as Levy leaned close to her with a smirk on her face. "Well? How _did_ you mean it?"

"W-well, I-I…s-she said that she would never force me in a marriage so I wondering if it would be okay to marry a common boy!"

"And you were thinking of Natsu, weren't you?" Levy poked her red cheek.

"…S-so what if I was?! It's not like I plan to marry him!"

"You want to though."

"N-no I don't!"

"Lu!" Levy sat back against her chair and crossed her arms. "I remember you told me you loved him during the train ride back! Did you suddenly change you mind?!"

" _Ssshhhh!_ Keep it down! Do you want my mother to hear?!" Lucy whisper-shouted. "And yeah, I like him, but…"

"You don't like him," Levy went back to teasing. "you loooove him!"

"Levy!" Lucy banged her head on the table as Levy laughed, not out of embarrassment, but out of frustration…and to make the physical pain power over the mental pain so she wouldn't feel it. "Stop getting my hopes up!"

That shut Levy up. "Huh?"

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut to keep out the tears. "Levy, I feel torn in two. Yes, I love Natsu and I wanna be with him and Fairy Tail, but the kingdom! My mom and I could be removed from office! We could be living out on the streets! _Anything_ could happen to us! And what about the future of Fiore? They need a king and a good one! I know Ivan would never in a million years be a good king, but that's what the people want!" Lucy looked up at her friend, "not only that, but my mom would be _so_ disappointed in me! Levy, I feel torn in two! I don't know what to do!"

Levy set a hand on her shoulder as the tears flowed down the blonde's cheeks. "Levy, be my advisor!"

"What?"  
"Be my advisor! Give me advice! What should I do?!"

Levy looked out the window before scooting closer to Lucy. Lucy could see in the blue haired girl's eyes that she was just as clueless as she was and she had no advice to give. Levy would tell her to follow her heart, but if that was the case, she would be with Natsu and Fairy Tail right now. She's right, _anything_ could happen to she and the queen. Being removed from office would most likely occur, but other things could happen as well – bad things.

Levy, instead of giving advice, hugged her best friend and whispered three words in her ear that were full of truth: "you're not alone."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Erza immediately liked Meldy after she spent two hours to make anything Erza wanted to eat. Even when Erza had finished eating, everything was gone and Meldy didn't eat anything. With a kind smile, Meldy said that she ate earlier and that Erza should eat until she was full since that she was starved when she was held captive. Meldy also had bandages and medicine to help heal her wounds. Erza couldn't be more grateful, but the only thing she wanted right now was to see Jellal.

"Jellal would've come to get you himself," Meldy said when Erza had asked, "but he had to be somewhere and he couldn't just leave to come save you. He was really worried about you though so he sent me."

"Where did he need to be?"

"I don't know. He didn't tell me, but if he said he couldn't come get you, then it had to be very important."

Erza couldn't agree more. Jellal and she have been friends since they were kids and they've been very close. Heck, he even gave her a last name! If he couldn't save her because of whatever he was doing, then it really _was_ important and Erza trusted him. However, that didn't mean she didn't want to see him. It's been a while now: three months. She has no idea where he was and what he was up to. She wanted to catch up with him and talk to him…but that would have to wait…

"We are going to Acalypha," Meldy suddenly said, breaking Erza out of her thoughts. "My friend, Ultear, is waiting for us. She used to work with Jellal and is a member of our guild, Crime Sorceire. I told her we'd meet her at the merchant guild, Love & Lucky, after I rescued you."

"No!" Erza immediately yelled, "We can't! We have to go to Crocus! I have to tell Queen Layla and Lucy that the person who killed King Jude was-"

"I understand, Erza, but if I don't make it to Acalypha, Ultear will think something had happened to me. Besides, she-"

"I don't care! I appreciate you saving and taking care of me, but if we waste more time, Lucy could be-"

"Erza, listen to me-"

"I know their plan! Their _real_ plan! Raven Tail's! I know that they'll try to get Lucy-"

"Erza!" Finally capturing the redhead's attention, Meldy took a deep breath. "I know what their plan is too. Ultear had been spying on Raven Tail since the war started so she knows a little bit more than we do."

Erza blinked, "Crime Sorceire has been spying on Raven Tail?"

Meldy nodded, "We have since the war began. I'm sure that whatever Jellal is doing has something to do with Raven Tail. I know that protecting the queen and princess is important, but we need to meet with Ultear first. There, we can regroup and be filled in on what she knows. I know we need to get to Queen Layla and Princess Lucille, but please trust me."

Erza was _very_ hesitant as she thought it through and in the end, she agreed to meet up with Ultear in Acalypha. Internally, Erza prayed that Lucy would stay safe.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Lucy had done only two things for days: the first is reading and rereading her letters from Natsu. She has about seventeen now (who knows how many letters she's sent to him) and it was the only comfort she could find. Levy was very supportive and helpful, yes, but it just wasn't enough. The second is sulking. Lucy would sit in a corner and sulk and sulk and read Natsu's letters and sulk some more. She didn't go to dinner anymore and she hardly ate when the maids brought her a meal. She didn't deny that she was _very_ hungry, but she just didn't want to eat.

It was probably the hardest decision that she would ever make: she could either be selfish and choose Natsu, or give the people what they want and marry Ivan for the greater good. It was either Fiore or Natsu…

Fiore or Natsu?

If she chose Natsu, there was still the possibility that he might not like her back. Her choice wouldn't be in vain if that was the case, she would love to be his friend forever if she couldn't be his girlfriend. She was sure Natsu didn't see her that way anyway. Besides, what was she to him – to all of them: a princess who they had to look after because the king asked them to. Sure, she became good friends with all of them, but all she was to them was a baby and they were the sitter…Still, those few months were the best of her life…and not a day would go by that she wouldn't forget.

Fiore or Natsu?

If she chose to marry Ivan, the people would be content and happy, but she'd be in slavery. Ivan would be in complete control over her. Lucy would have to do anything he told her to do. Not only that, but she would have to have a child with him (ugh! The thought just gives her the chills!) and if it's not a boy, then she'd have to have another until she has a son to be the next heir to the throne. Her life would be a living hell, but the people would be happy. The seventeen million people living in Fiore would be happy.

Seventeen million people or one boy?

Fiore or Natsu?

Lucy swore her brain was starting to hurt she squeezed her eyes shut as frustrated tears dribbled out, dug her fingers into her golden locks, and she buried her head in her knees.

Fiore or Natsu?

Natsu or Fiore?

Fiore or Natsu?

Seventeen million or one?

…

…

…

Lucy suddenly shot up onto her feet and stepped over Natsu's letters. She left her dark corner and her room as she made her way to her mother's office. She knocked twice before entering and three faces looked up from what they were doing: Layla, Ivan, and Levy.

"Lucy?" Layla asked.

"I've made my decision."

Levy blinked. It's been a while since she's seen Lucy with such a determined and serious face. The last time she saw it was when she convinced Erza to teach her hand-to-hand combat after being warned that it would be tough. With that look, Lucy must've chosen to be with Natsu. Why else would she have it? She was about to tell her mother in front of Ivan that she refuses to marry him! Levy couldn't bite back the smile.

"Well?" Layla pressed.

With a deep breath, Lucy closed her eyes, gathering courage. She then opened them and spoke five words:

"I will marry Advisor Ivan."

Levy's face turned from a smile to pure shock. She knew this was going to be a very tough decision for her, but she honestly expected her to pick Natsu. Levy knew Lucy _really_ liked him, but here she was, saying that she would marry a man twenty years older than her whom she hated! Ivan was very ugly if I might add. The beautiful princess who was in love with someone else is agreeing to marry _him?!_ It didn't sit well with Levy; what was that look of determination for if it wasn't for confronting her mother that she wasn't going to marry him?

"Lu…" She whispered, mainly to herself, but she knew Lucy heard her. " _I know you don't want this…why?_ "

Layla gave her daughter a sad smile and nodded, "thank you, Lucy."

Lucy didn't reply.

Ivan was smiling though, and was suddenly on his feet and making his way toward her. Once he was in front of her, he got on one knee and opened a ring box in front of her. Most girls would swoon and maybe even cry when being proposed to. However, Lucy's determined face stayed the same and she didn't swoon, but she did want to cry.

"I know you and I have had our ups and downs," Ivan said, "but you will not regret this, my wife-to-be."

Lucy, again, didn't reply, but held out her hand as the wedding ring was slipped on.

Levy then realized, that look of determination, wasn't for confronting her mother, it was to keep herself from breaking and backing down. It was a look of bravery – of unwavering, even though she was wavering internally. She was determined not to change her mind and back down. She had made her final decision and she _loathed_ it.

That was day Lucy broke her own heart by telling it "no". Levy had doubted that the shattered pieces would ever be put back together.

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 **It's finally out! Phew! This took a while. I'm really sorry about that long wait! I was SUPER busy and everything! There's also my homework and stuff (I'm almost done!). Once I'm done with school, these chapters will be up a lot faster (hopefully). The bad news is, I'm getting summer tutor for math (do you guys know how hard it is to teach yourself high school math? A LOT! YOU SHOULD SEE MY GRADES! ^.^') so yeah. Also, this would've been up last night, BUT MY STUPID INTERNET WAS DOWN! So yeah...I hope you liked it!**

 **-zEllie**


	23. Chapter 23

**I figured I should start this now because if I don't, it won't be up for a week. Besides, I'm Skyriming later with my dad. SKYRIM! (belongs to the Nords! Lol) Do any of my fans play Skyrim? Anybody?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 23)

Lucy twirled around in front of the mirror as the lady said and the white dress she was wearing flowed nicely around her. Levy was dressed in white standing next to her as well, but the dress she was wearing wasn't as pretty as hers.

"Your Majesty," The lady said, "you look beautiful!"

"Thank you," Lucy said dryly. She's been standing here trying on dresses for _hours!_ And she didn't even wanna be here! So many thoughts about her decision were running through her head and she started to get a headache from it. She didn't even care what dress she wore. It could be torn and covered in mud, but she didn't care. This wasn't a wedding Lucy was excited for.

The lady seemed to notice Lucy's careless tone. "Do you not like it, Princess Lucille? If not, we can try another one…"

"No!" Lucy flashed her a smile. She didn't think she could handle trying on another dress. "It's fine, Miss…" she glanced down at her name tag, "…Kara. The dress is fine!"

Kara smiled at her before bowing and turning to Levy. "And how are you doing over here, Miss McGarden?"

"It's a little tight around the waist, but I like it. Do you have a larger size?"

"Of course! I'll be right back with a larger size for you and a few pairs of high heels for Her Highness," Kara left.

Lucy then suddenly glanced down at her wedding ring on her hand. The ring was hideous and it was weird because how could diamond rings be ugly? Maybe it was ugly because she didn't want it…

"Lu?"

Lucy turned toward her blue haired friend. "Yeah?"

Levy opened her mouth, but then closed it, looking to the side. "Why did-" she shut her mouth again and looked down, trying to pick the right words. "I…" After a few moments of silence, Levy looked back up at Lucy and grinned widely, "I want you to know that I'm always going to be here for you…no matter what."

Lucy grinned back with a "thank you", but her hesitance said it all. Levy was surprised and maybe even disappointed in Lucy's choice. Levy knew Lucy had a hard time deciding, but in all honesty, Natsu was the person she thought she'd choose. Instead, she did what was best for her kingdom: chain herself up in a living hell. Lucy was so selfless that Levy almost envied her. If their roles were reversed, Levy would've chosen Gajeel, not Fiore.

Levy suddenly went red. " _Hold on. Where did that thought about Gajeel come from?!_ "

"Levy?"

Levy shook her head to clear it and turned to Lucy with a blush she was trying to fade. "Yeah?"

Lucy didn't notice her blush, or if she did, she didn't say anything about it. It was silent for a while as Lucy played with the neat sowing of her dress as she bit her lip. Levy patently waited for her to speak.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Lucy took a deep breath and said, "I'm never going to see him again, am I?"

"W-what? N-Natsu? Are you kidding, Lucy? Of course you'll see him again! You're marrying Ivan, not lying down on your deathbed-" Levy suddenly stopped. "…Oh." After Lucy's wedding, they both knew that she would be given duties and duties to do. She would never have time to go to Fairy Tail to see Natsu and all their friends. Even if she did have some free time, Ivan will just forbid her from doing so.

"I'm never going to see him again."

"Lu…" There was certainly something Levy could do! She could send a letter to Natsu, inviting him to the castle. That way, Lucy will _have_ to see him! No, Levy has to run all her letters by the king first and when that time comes, the king would be Ivan. Maybe Levy could help Lucy sneak out of her room at night? No, she'd be too tired from all her duties. Maybe Levy could help sneak her out of her room during the _day?_ No, Lucy would surely have personal guards following her around. Ugh! There _had_ to be something!

"Hey Levy?"

Levy looked at Lucy. Their eyes locked and the Solid Script Mage could see the broken heartedness in her chocolate eyes. "Yeah?"

"Do you think I have the authority to fire maids and servants?"

Levy blinked; this conversation suddenly changed. They were just talking about Natsu when all of a sudden, boom! A random question. "Uh…yeah, I think so. You'll be crowned queen after the wedding. So, I'm sure you do."

"Good. Levy, you're fired."

Levy jumped in her place at the sudden question as she eyes widened and her mouth gapped. " _What?!_ "

"I don't want to keep you from being with Gajeel! Just because I can't be with someone I love doesn't mean you can't either!"

"Woah! Woah! Hold on a second! I don't love-"

"I know you do. I've seen the way you look at him. And while we were staying at Fairy Tail, almost every single time I saw you, you were with Gajeel."

Levy remained silent.

"Levy," Lucy took her friend's hands in hers. "I love you. You're the sister I never had. I want you to be happy…and if you're here with me, you can't be with Gajeel."

"Lu-"

"So, therefore, you're fired. If I don't fire you, you won't leave and won't have the chance to become a Fairy Tail mage and-"

"Lu!" Levy squeezed the blonde's hands. "I love you too…and _that_ is why I'm not leaving."

"But Levy-"

"I don't care. You can fire me, but I'll just stick around. I'm not going to leave you just because of a guy. And I told you before, I'm joining Fairy Tail when you join."

"But I can't join!" Lucy exclaimed. She was getting frustrated with her friend's hard headedness.

"If you can't join, then I can't either!"

"Levy! Quit being so stubborn! I want you be happy since I can't be!" Lucy felt a tear roll down and her heart ache at her own words that were full of truth.

"Lu," Levy gave her a smile. "I won't lie: I _really_ want to join Fairy Tail and be with all our new friends, but honestly, Fairy Tail wouldn't be Fairy Tail without you."

Lucy let out a sob and Levy stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around the Celestial Mage.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Arrrrgghhh!" Natsu groaned rather loudly. He got a few stares, but he didn't care. "I haven't gotten a letter from Lucy in two weeks!"

"You're actually lucky," Wendy, who was sitting next to him, said, "letters that travel from here to Crocus take two and a _half_ weeks. For some reason though, her letters have been coming each week. I'm sure yours is traveling just as fast too."

"It's probably because Lucy's the princess so her letters travel faster," Mira said. She had walked by them with a few beer bottles for Macao and Wakaba. "And since Natsu's letters are addressed to the princess, they're traveling faster too."

"How interesting," Carla said. "I didn't know the Post Office did that."

"It's just a hunch," Mira handed the men their beer. "I don't know for sure."

Natsu banged his head on the table. "That doesn't make me feel any better."

"I'll check the mail box to see if it's there," Wendy smiled and was out the door before he could reply.

Natsu moaned quietly. "I want Lucy to come back. It's not the same without her."

Mira grinned and said something about young love before walking off to take an order from the Thunder Legion…or maybe she just went over there to talk to Laxus.

"Natsu?"

"Hmm?" Natsu lifted his head up from the table.

Happy snickered. "You're totally in loooove with Lucy! You know that right?!"

"…I-"

"Hey Natsu!" Wendy came running back to them. "The letter was there!"

Natsu shot up in a sitting position, more excited than ever. "What's it say?!"

Wendy opened it up as Natsu, Happy, and Carla gathered close to her. " 'Dear Natsu,' " She started:

" 'Hey there, Natsu! That prank you did to Laxus is just the greatest! I laughed so hard I started crying and my gut hurt. I'm okay now though. Don't let him find out it was you. If he did, you would die.

" 'I have some news myself that I should tell you. It's bad news though and I'm sure you've already heard it: I'm getting married.' "

Suddenly, Natsu's heart stopped beating.

" 'I don't want to get married, but it's for the best. The man's name is Ivan Dreyar. He's the advisor at the castle. People want him as the new king and since my mom has gotten too old to produce a male heir, I had to get engaged to him. My mom gave me the choice if I wanted to or not, but I told her that I would do it. I don't want to, but it's best for the kingdom. The wedding is in two weeks.' "

Wendy, Happy, and Carla gasped. "Two weeks?! Already?! You've got to be kidding!"  
Natsu just stared wide-eyed and unable to breathe. Lucy was getting married? No way…

" 'Ivan is terrible. He's ugly, mean, twenty years older than me, and I hate him. I'm sure later in life, I'll regret it, but right now, it's for the best.

" 'Do you know what this means, Natsu? This means we can't talk to each other anymore. We can't even send letters to each other. I'm going to miss talking to you like this…actually just talking to you in general. You know, when we first met, I'll be honest, I didn't really like you. When I first saw you, you were puking on the sidewalk outside of the castle in Crocus. Do you remember? I thought it was the most stupid thing ever! I remember making fun of you with Levy. When you saved me in Raven Tail's headquarters, you were so persistent and annoying! You kept bothering me and judging me on what I wear. Then, at the guild hall, I happened to see you shoving everything you could get your hands on down your throat. You were so stupid! I remember that I didn't want to be around you after that.' "

Happy turned to Natsu to see his reaction. If this was anybody who was insulting him like this, he would get mad, but Natsu's eyes remained widened and the jaw agape. Happy was even wondering if he was listening. He was about to poke him and ask if he was there, but Carla stopped him and Wendy continued:

" 'You are such an idiot, Natsu…but you're my idiot, my idiotic best friend. After my very first job I took at the guild hall with you, I realized that there's more than meets the eye when it came to you: you always know what to say to me when I'm upset. You're so strong; I always feel safe around you. You're very warm too. I'll tell the truth, on a cold night, I'm always waiting for you to come through my window with Happy. I pretend to be asleep and when I know that you're asleep for sure, I scoot closer to you so I wouldn't freeze to death. You're like my own personal heater; it's rather funny! Not only those things, but you're so much fun to be around. You always make me laugh and I like watching you fight with Gray. I think my favorite thing to do is just talk to you.

" 'I may have thought that you were an idiot – actually, I still do – but you became the best friend that I've ever had, even more than Levy (don't tell her I said that). Don't get me wrong, I made a _ton_ of friends at the guild hall and I love each and every one of you, but Natsu, you take the cake. I know now that I can always count on you. You're the best friend I've ever had.

" 'You know, I really _hate_ goodbyes and I'm not very good with them either. However, our time we spent together, I'm never going to forget it. I'm always going to cherish our friendship every single day. I hope you have a wonderful life, Natsu, and I hope that one day, you find Igneel.

" 'Sincerely, for the very last time, Lucy' "

Wendy looked up at Natsu who was just frozen in shock in his seat, unable to react. She looked around and happened to notice that most of the people in the guild hall were watching and listening. Some had tears in their eyes and others were smiling because the whole letter was like one huge confession. But like Lucy said, Natsu was an idiot and wouldn't figure that out.

"Wendy."

Wendy turned around to meet the eyes of Master Makarov.

"This man Lucy is engaged to, what did she say his name was?"

Wendy looked down at the letter in hands, "Uh…Ivan Dreyar. Hold on, isn't her your son?"

That caught Natsu's attention. Lucy was getting married to Gramps' son? Laxus' dad? He suddenly sat up in his seat and with serious eyes awaited the Master's answer.

"Yes, he's my son."

Laxus muttered something under his breath. It must've been pretty bad though because Mira, next to him, gasped.

"Gramps!" Natsu exclaimed, standing up. "We can't let this happen! There's obviously something fishy going on here! We have to stop them!"

"I know, Natsu," Master Makarov said. "I know. The wedding is in two weeks, correct Wendy?"

Wendy nodded.

"That's plenty of time. We'll need a few days to plan ahead. I think we can stop this wedding and find King Jude's killer at the same time."

"No!" Natsu exclaimed. "We don't have time! We have to go now!"  
"You always think first then plan later!" Gray shouted, by now, everyone was listening in. They were able to easily figure out what was going on. "Lucy is right you know: you _are_ an idiot!"

Natsu growled at him, but didn't attack. His mind was too focused saving Lucy.

"I understand how you feel, Natsu, and I guarantee that we _will_ save her, but right now you have to wait. The wedding is in two weeks and that's plenty of time," Makarov repeated. "Plus, I'm worried about Erza. Nobody has seen her for weeks. We'll find her too; we'll kill three birds with one stone."

Natsu hesitated, but eventually agreed. If they could find Lucy's dad's killer, then a lot of problems going on at the castle will be solved. Also, if he'd break in the castle to get her now, he'd only get caught and thrown in prison. Lucy would also be in trouble because of that.

" ' _Sincerely, for the last time,' my butt. Lucy,_ I _will be the one deciding when the last time we'll see each other is. I just need you to hold on a bit longer; I'm coming for you. I promise._ "

That was the day Lucy broke Natsu's heart by telling it "no", but was that going to stop him? Not in a million years…

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 **Yes! It's out! And I typed it up pretty quickly! Oh yeah! I'll answer a few questions since I'm sure if Blue Star is wondering, then I'm sure you all are wondering as well. When Levy said, "you're not alone" she meant that whatever Lucy decides, Levy will never leave her and she'll support her on whatever decision her makes. Also, "Tree house" will start when I'm finished with this series (I'm about ¾ done). I'm not going to overlap series, but I'll probably do that in the future. I have** _ **so**_ **many NaLu series ideas that I wanna write and I'm pretty sure I don't have that long of a lifetime to do them one after the other lol. So, later in life, I'll overlap series and maybe write two of them at once, but right now, I'm sticking with only one at a time. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and more to come!**

 **-zEllie**


	24. Chapter 24

**I have realized that I can't start writing for NaLu Week until I know the prompts and the prompts aren't up yet. So, therefore, I'll start writing another chapter since you all have been waiting patiently!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 24)

"Aaaaarrgghhhh!" Natsu punched a wall in the guild hall before slamming his head against it. He had gone for a month without seeing Lucy and he thought he could go a little farther, but the need to get to her and save her was eating him up.

"Natsu," Mira pat him on the shoulder, "I know you want to save her and you will. Just wait a little longer."

"I can't!"

Natsu knew he felt different toward Lucy than anyone else, but he didn't understand why. He just knew he liked her more than any of his other friends. None of that mattered at the moment though; he could sort out all his feelings later. Right now, all that mattered was Lucy – was _saving_ her. There was _no way_ he was going to let her marry some random guy she didn't even remotely like! Not on his watch! He would be dead before that happened! Not only that, but he wanted to see her. It had been a month and that was a while, but for him, it had been an eternity! He wanted to see Lucy.

"It's been a week and a half. In only a few days, you'll be able to save her."

Natsu growled, but not at Mira. It was just in frustration.

"Ugh!" Cana groaned as she threw her cards in the air. "I'm not getting any reading on where Erza is!"

"That's okay, Cana," Mira must be playing peacemaker instead of matchmaker today. She keeps calming everyone down. "I'm sure, wherever she is, she's okay. Even if we don't find her, even if that part of the plan fails, I'm sure King Jude's killer knows where she is. If he doesn't, we'll have to figure out another way."

That seemed to calm Cana down. "You're right," she said. "Sorry, I just hadn't had a drink in a few hours and I'm getting a headache."

"I'll go get you some. What would you like?"

"Thanks Mira, and I'll take some White Wine."

Mira left toward the bar as Natsu continued to bang his head on the wall. Like Cana, he too was getting a headache, but it wasn't because he needed alcohol…or because he was banging his head on a wall.

He just _really_ wanted to see her…was that too much to ask?

Apparently, it was.

"Hey Freed," Wendy walked up to the green haired man, who seemed very concentrated, "You've been very quiet recently. What are you doing?"

"Hmm?" Freed looked over that the young dragon slayer before gluing his eyes back on three images, each resembling maps, in the air that he had drawn using Reedus' light pen. "Oh! I'm mapping out the castle grounds. When we were staying at the castle during the first battle against Raven Tail, I memorized the entire castle in case of an emergency. I didn't need it then, but now it would be very useful."

"How smart!" Carla approved. "I didn't think of memorizing the palace. With this, we'll be able to get to Lucy easier than we thought!"

"Wow! That's great, Freed!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Thank you."

This caught Natsu's attention. A map of the castle is a very great advantage and probably the biggest they'll get. He left the wall, which now had many dents in it, and approached Freed, Wendy, and Carla. He scanned each of the maps, happy that they were labeled, and stopped when he found Lucy's room on the second map.

"Each map is a floor in the palace," Freed pointed at Lucy's room. He didn't have to glance at Natsu to know what he was thinking. Everybody knew he was head-over-heels for her and visa versa. Why else would he be acting like this? They were all worried, but Natsu had no idea what to do without her. "Therefore, Lucy's room is on the second floor. That's where she will most likely be before the wedding, getting dressed and such."

Natsu nodded, "which room is the ceremony going to take place in?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure, but if I was the queen, I would have the ceremony in the throne room on the first floor," Freed pointed as he spoke.

"We'll want to get Levy out of there too," Wendy spoke. "Where is her room?"

"Right next to the library, on the second floor. It's not far from Lucy's room which is good. The quicker we get to them, the quicker we can escape."

Wendy could suddenly feel the presence of someone behind her and turned around to see Gajeel towering over her, staring at the maps. She slightly jumped in shock, but didn't say anything. " _When did he get here?_ " Lily was standing right next to Happy, who came over after Natsu did, and Carla, who were also studying the maps.

Freed suddenly huffed in slight frustration, "If only I had the wedding plans! That would be much easier!"

"Well, you said yourself that the wedding might take place in the throne room," Gajeel spoke for the first time.

"That was just a hunch."

"I know, but it seemed spot on. We should send a team in there."

"A team?" Natsu questioned. What was the point of teams? Lucy would most likely be in her room before the wedding. That was all he needed. He could just jump into her room through the window, grab her, and leave. That was all that was to it. Why did they need teams?

Gajeel shot him a glare, "Yeah! We'll need a team to get Bunny Girl out, a team to get Shrimp out, a team to find anything on the king's killer, and a team to find anything on where Erza is! That's four teams, Salamander!"

"Well, if that's the case, we'll need five, not four."

Everyone glanced at Natsu, "huh?"

"We should get Lucy's mother out as well. A month after her father died, and his killer is still on the lose, we should get the queen as well."

Pantherlily nodded in agreement, "that's a good point, Natsu."

"The queen's room is on the third floor," Freed pointed. "It would be hard to get to, but a good spot to find anything on the king's killer."

"I'll go there," Cana's voice rang out from behind them. They glanced at her as she gulped down a mouthful of wine. She may be drinking, but she was still sober and serious. "I'll get a better reading on my cards. If I'm closer to the crime scene the better…and _that_ room _is_ the crime scene."

Freed nodded, "that's for the best. However, you can't go alone."  
"She's not!" Wendy exclaimed, "I'll go with her!"

"Sounds good. We should probably get Juvia to go with you two as well. That should be enough for one team."

"We should have Warren standing outside the castle," Happy pointed out, "at the place where we all meet up and escape. That way, we can keep in contact and change our plans quickly if something goes wrong."

"That sounds good. Who is going to get Lucy?" Freed questioned.

"I am," Natsu immediately replied. "I'll get Lucy."

"Who's going with you?"  
"No one. I can do it myself."

"Natsu," Cana stood right next to him, "I know you want to do this alone, but believe me when I say you'll be able to get Lucy out safer and quicker if more people were with you. Isn't that what you want?"

Natsu grunted and hesitated before replying, "fine, but Wendy, I want you to come with me instead."  
"Why?"

"Because if Lucy gets hurt, you can heal her."

Wendy looked over at Cana who nodded understandably. She then smiled and said, "okay! I'll go with you instead! Gray could go in my place with Cana!"

"Sounds good!" Gray called out from across the room.

Before any of the other plans were discussed, Mira suddenly ran up to them holding a letter in hand, "it's a letter from the castle!"

No more was said; Natsu grabbed it, ripped it open, and stared at the words before letting out an "uh…"

"Oh, give me that!" Cana snatched it from his hands as everybody looked anxiously at her.

"It's not from Lucy," She said, surprised.

"Is it an invitation to the wedding from the queen?"  
"No, it's from Levy."

It was Gajeel's turn to grab the letter and he lifted it to his eyes: " 'Dear Fairy Tail,

" 'I know you're all aware of the wedding that is happening shortly. I also know that Lucy sent a farewell letter saying so. She agreed to marry Advisor Ivan, but I can see in her eyes that she doesn't want to do this. However, she is determined because she believes it's best for the kingdom. In all honestly, it's not for the best! The people of Fiore want Advisor Ivan to be king, but they will regret it later. I know that he will be a terrible king and I've tried to convince Lucy otherwise, but she won't see reason. I do, however, support her decision because I love her as a sister and I know this is hard on her, but I want her to be happy.

" 'I love Lucy and that is why I'm sending you this letter. I want you to come save her; the queen and I as well. Lucy doesn't know I'm doing this. If she did, she would stop me, but I know you guys can help us. She and I will be getting ready for the ceremony in her chambers and the queen will be in her own. The ceremony will take place outside in the gardens and the party afterward will be in the dining room. I don't know anything about Erza though and I'm very worried about her.

" 'Warren can contact me if you need anything else, and if you can't save me then at least save Lucy. Please! I'm counting on you guys!

" 'Sincerely, Levy McGarden' "

Natsu takes back his thoughts earlier: their biggest advantage wasn't the maps, it was Levy…now they had someone on the inside…

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The day of the wedding was exciting. Distant relatives and friends were swarming into the castle, bustling with happiness in being reunited with loved ones and anxious to see the beautiful bride. Even the room itself seemed to glow brighter than normal, maybe it was all the people or the decorations…or maybe it was just mocking her.

Lucy was the only one not excited. All she wanted was to get it over with. She wanted to stomp down the aisle, get married, and then lie down and sleep in her room. She didn't want to see anyone and she didn't want to party afterwards. She just wanted to get it over with.

She did end up admitting to herself that she was very beautiful in her wedding dress, but she didn't care.

Levy suddenly skipped into her room with a slight smile. Let's go back a few sentences, when I said Lucy was the only one excited, I meant it. Even _Levy_ was excited, which was strange to Lucy. The blue haired girl was upset like she was throughout the two weeks, so why is she so excited?

"I just have a few friends coming that I haven't seen in a while," Levy said when she asked. "I'm just anxious to see them. It's not because you're getting married."

Lucy believed her, but was still so curious to why she was excited. Levy couldn't be _this_ excited over a few friends coming. Does Lucy even know them? They were coming to her wedding so she has to, right?

Oh well, she didn't care. If Levy was excited to see old friends, that's fine. She just wanted the day to end as quickly as possible.

"Lu?" Levy brought the blonde bride out of her thoughts. "Really, I'm not excited because you're getting married. Please don't think that."  
"Oh, I know," Lucy smiled even though that was the last thing she wanted to do today, "I was just deep in thought for a few moments…by the way, you look really pretty, Levy."

Levy looked down at her dress before smiling and looking back up at her, "thank you. You're very pretty as well. Your hair and makeup need to be done though."

"I convinced them to let me do it."

"Seriously, they let you?"  
"Yeah."

"What are you doing to do?"  
"Nothing. I'm just going to put the veil in my hair and that's it."

Levy pouted, "well, that's not very appropriate for a wedding."

Lucy sighed, "Levy, I don't care…"

"I know, but can you at least _try_ to look convincing for the guests? If they see that you aren't all dolled up, then they'll know something is wrong."

Lucy sighed again and turned to her vanity, "fine, I'll put eyeliner and mascara on…and I'll put my hair up in a fancy bun."

Levy raised an eyebrow, "a bun?"

"Yup."

"Well, I guess that's better than nothing."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The music began to play and Lucy had to blink back tears as her heart beat louder and faster. She was about to walk down the aisle and ruin her life. Even if she hated this day, there was one thing she wanted: she wanted her father to walk her down the aisle, ever since she was a child and had gone to weddings, she always looked forward to walking down the aisle with her father, but now, she couldn't even have that…she has to walk down alone.

She sucked in a shaky breath and opened the door to the gardens. People were already staring at her and she hadn't even left of the doorway. Of course, everybody wants to see the bride as soon as possible at any wedding, but it still annoyed Lucy.

She sucked in another breath before walking down the aisle. She spotted cousins she hasn't seen in years, but most of the people she had never seen before. She met Levy's eyes and had the courage to flash her a sad smile, which she returned. Levy was standing next to the alter as the maid of honor.

When Lucy reached the alter, she turned, with hard eyes, at her fiancée, Ivan Dreyar.

"You look beautiful, Lucille."

"…T-thank you."

Woah! She stuttered! She didn't see that coming. Lucy then suddenly realized how much of a panic attack she was having. It seemed every bone in her body was screaming, "No! Don't do it! Run! Get away from him! Go to Fairy Tail! Go to Natsu!", but she knew she couldn't. This was for the best, whether she'll regret this or not. Besides, she had already agreed to marry Ivan and Celestial Wizards never break their promises.

It got boring then, the pastor of their church introduced himself and told the audience how long he had known Lucy (since she was born really) and that it was a privilege to be at her wedding. He nearly shed a tear when he complained about how fast Lucy was growing up and she almost told him to grow a pair. She _almost_ did; she stopped herself at the last second.

Then the ultimate question came:

"Do you, Ivan Dreyar, take Princess Lucille Heartfilia to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Ivan smiled his creepy twisted smile that made her want to gag, "I do."

The pastor then turned to her and Lucy felt her heart speed up in fear as her body continued to scream and tell her to run.

"And do you, Princess Lucille Heartfilia, take Ivan Dreyar to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

…

"I…"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 **CLIFFFHANNNGEERR! Hah! I hope you enjoyed it! I finally got this done!...aaand I'm going to sleep now because I stayed up** _ **so**_ **late last night and I've been tired all day….ZZZzzzzzz**

 **-zEllie**


	25. Chapter 25

**Yo! I'm sure you all want to know what happens next…plus, I need something to do while my Sword Art Online episode buffers. What else do I do besides my favorite thing to do: write? It's a win-win!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 25)

"Do you, Ivan Dreyar, take Princess Lucille Heartfilia to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Ivan smiled his creepy twisted smile that made her want to gag, "I do."

The pastor then turned to her and Lucy felt her heart speed up in fear as her body continued to scream and tell her to run.

"And do you, Princess Lucille Heartfilia, take Ivan Dreyar to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I…"

Lucy's throat felt dry…drier than she's ever felt before. She swallowed, took a deep breath, and quieted all the screaming her bones kept giving her before opening her mouth again:

"I-"

" _LUCY!_ "

Lucy spun around faster than a spinning top toward the voice. The guests gasped, disturbed anyone would interrupt a wedding, especially a royal one, and searched for the voice as well.

"Lucy, don't do this!"

Lucy's heart increased, but this time, not out of fear, " _why does that sound so much like…_ "

On the other side of the gardens, three figures were running straight toward them. Lucy's eyes widened, "N-Natsu?"

"I know you don't want this, Luce!" Natsu shouted as his speed increased. "So I'm not gonna let you do this!"

"Natsu! Wh-"

"Guards!" Ivan suddenly exclaimed and grabbed Lucy's forearm harshly. "Get them! Capture them and take them to the dungeon!"

The guards ran by causing the crowd of nobles to panic slightly. As Natsu and the two other figures behind him got closer, Lucy could see that it was Wendy and Romeo with looks of determination on their faces (Happy and Carla were flying above them).

"Solid Script Magic: Hole!"

Lucy spun toward Levy who had her hand up casting a spell. A hole appeared in front of the guards, causing them to fall.

"Levy? You're in this?"

Levy smiled at Lucy, "you wouldn't listen to me. I had to get you to change your mind _somehow_."

"Levy! You little sneak!" The words may have been a bit harsh, but the corners of Lucy's lips curled upward a bit.

Some of the guards dodged the hole and went for Natsu, Wendy, and Romeo.

"Get outta my way!" Natsu shouted, lighting his fist of fire and punching a guard that got in front of him. His eyes were trained on Lucy, desperately trying to get to her.

When Natsu punched him, chaos happened. There were so many guests and every single one of them panicked. They got out of their seats and ran around, trying to find the exit.

"We're under attack! There are people running around the castle!" A random guard shouted, causing even more people to panic.

"They're…here," Lucy muttered, tears coming to her eyes. "They're all…here…"

All of Fairy Tail came to get her. She couldn't believe it. She didn't think they all actually thought of her as a member of their guild…just a princess they were protecting. She meant something to them…

"Wait! Wait! Stop!"  
Lucy turned to the voice and the panic and fighting seemed to freeze. Three figures approached them. The person in front was someone they knew too well.

"Erza!" Lucy and Levy exclaimed, happy that nothing had happened to her.

The two other women behind her were in blue cloaks. One had curly pink hair and the other had straight black.

"Stop this at once!" Erza exclaimed, "I know who killed the king!"

Lucy and Layla froze as she continued:

"It was Ivan! I saw him kill the king! I was there!"

There were gasps heard all around and the panicking started again when Natsu punched another guard and shouted, "Why you little! I knew it was you! I knew it!"

Lucy felt anger bubbling up inside her. The advisor, who she was about to get married to, killed her father. She may have never liked Ivan, but her dad trusted him. He trusted him and in return, he killed him.

"You…you…you little…" Lucy felt tears in her eyes and she slapped him before she could stop herself, not that she was _going to_ , but it so fast she didn't even realize it.

Ivan picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She screamed, kicked, and punched, but to no avail. Ivan turned to run off before the guards had turned to him. Of course, they were dealing with the wedding crashers first.

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted, trying to get to her, but the guests were in the way and he didn't want to hurt them.

"Natsu!" Lucy looked at him before disappearing behind a wall.

"Natsu!" The pink haired girl who came in with Erza shouted toward him as she joined the fight against the guards, knights and a different enemy approaching. "Go after Lucy. We can handle things here!"

He didn't have to be told twice, the nice lady gave him an opening in the crowd and Natsu took it without hesitation. He darted off toward where Ivan and Lucy were at without looking back.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"You son of a gun!" Lucy exclaimed, still kicking and screaming. Her vision was blurred, thanks to her tears, and she couldn't see where he was taking her. "You son of a…flipping gun!"

Ivan chuckled at her choice of words before continuing his way downstairs.

"He trusted you! My father trusted you and you _killed_ him?! You son of a gun! Put me down! Where are you taking me?!"

She was suddenly thrown on the ground and chained to the wall. She wiped her eyes on her shoulder to clear her tears before looking around. Her eyes widened when she realized where they were:

The Torture Chamber…

"This couldn't get any better," Ivan spoke, picking up a knife and sharpening it, causing Lucy to flinch at the noise. She tried to move, but both her arms were chained above her head. "Fairy Tail is here. I knew they would be coming so I had Raven Tail hiding in the shadows. Now that they're here, this battle should be interesting."

"Raven Tail…you…you ordered Raven Tail?..."

"Yes," Ivan turned to face her. "I'm the master of Raven Tail."

Lucy's breath caught, "…b-but I thought…Alexei…"

"That was just my cover up name. I was him all along."

"…you traitor…"

"Oh my darling princess, I had always intended to be a traitor. _This_ was my plan to begin with. I got this job for this moment and I gained the king and queen's trust for this moment."

Lucy struggled angrily, "you'll never be king! Never! You're secret is out now! No one will let you be king now!"

"King?...yes, that's my intention, but it was never my _true_ goal."

"…Then what is?"

"What I want…more than anything," Ivan leaned close and tilted Lucy's chin up to look her dead in the eye, "is to end Fairy Tail."

"…F-Fairy Tail?...W-why? What did they do to you? Why did you use me and my parents?!"

"Hmm…I guess there's no harm in telling you…since I'm going to kill you anyway…" Lucy gulped as Ivan backed away to continue sharpening the knife, but wasn't afraid. The more she asked questions, the more he'd talk. It'll give Natsu more than enough time to catch her scent and find her. "As I said before, I want Fairy Tail to end; I want them gone for good. So I created a guild to rival it: Raven Tail. My guild is filled with wizards who use magic that is the weakness against Fairy Tail's magic. I wanted to start a war with them without getting the Magic Council involved. Sadly, they knew my identity so I couldn't infiltrate them. Even if I could, the royal family has higher authority and would surely stop me. So I infiltrated your family instead.

"Everything had gone according to plan. It was almost too perfect, I could barely believe it. I had gained the king and queen's trust in such a short amount of time, I had the authority to do nearly anything!...You never trusted me though…and that was a shame, but it didn't get in the way of any of my plans. I had intentionally planned to wipe out the royal family during the first battle. I knew you and your knights would be helpless against me and my wizards. However, Erza happily had Fairy Tail fight for you, which is perfect for me. That was exactly what I wanted. I lost that battle, yes, but I was able to injure so many of Fairy Tail, I could call it a fair tie.

"I was so happy when you believed my lie about Raven Tail training in the mountains. Honestly, I didn't think your father would believe it even with all that evidence. When you and Fairy Tail left, I had a few…well, complications with the king. He had overheard me talking to one of my members and suspected something. I couldn't have that. I quickly changed my plans and killed him in his sleep."

Lucy's blood boiled with rage…

"Sadly, Captain Erza happened to be in the room and saw me kill him. I never knew why she was there. No matter how much I tortured her she never said anything. I knocked her out and took her to my guild hall.

"I knew I needed to be king to be able to be at war with Fairy Tail. So, what was better than to marry into the throne? I had Flare, a member of my guild, spread rumors of how I would be a great king and it had worked. However, I know how Fairy Tail works…and I know that they consider you family now. I knew they would come to get you, so I had Raven Tail here waiting. Sadly, they had the nerve to interrupt before you said 'I do'."

"Yeah, I didn't say 'I do'…which means we're not married….which means you're not king…and now that your secret is out…you never will be."

"Yes, that's true…but if I kill you, the queen, the knights, and all the guests, my secret won't spread."

Lucy choked on her saliva. "What kind of heartless person are you?! What do you gain from this?! Are you telling me that all of _this_ was just for _revenge?!_ "

"I guess you could call it 'revenge'. I'd call it 'returning the favor'."

"…W-what?"

"That doesn't matter now," Ivan set the sharpener down and walked toward her with the knife, shining in his hands. "Your time ends now."

Lucy's eyes widened. Natsu wasn't here! "W-wait! Wait!"

"Goodbye, Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut as Ivan brought the blade down…

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Laxus watched as his teammates rummaged through Erza's things before sighing. "I don't think she left any clues or anything. If she did, we would know by now."

"It seems really strange Erza would just up and leave like that without telling us," Evergreen spoke as she skimmed through a book before shutting and throwing it. "I'm really worried."

Freed and Bixslow quietly scoffed. Evergreen is worried about her rival? Please…

"Is there anywhere else we could look?" Bixslow asked, "like Lucy or Levy's room? Erza is good friends with them so there might be something there."

"If we can't find anything in Erza's own room, then I doubt we'd find anything in their's," Freed replied.

"Still, it's worth a shot."

"I agree with Freed," Evergreen said. "Besides, we could easily get caught and we're all trying to be sneaky here…well, except for Natsu's team."

Laxus hummed…he had a bad feeling about this…

"Guys! Guys! Can you hear me?! Thunder Legion, can you hear me?!"

They all perked their heads up and Freed was the first to reply, "Yes, we can hear you, Warren! What's wrong? Is something the matter?"  
"Did Natsu not make it in time?" Evergreen asked.

"No," Warren replied. "He definitely made it. Nothing is stopping him, but you should head outside to the garden. Raven Tail is here!"  
"What?!" The four of them exclaimed.

"Yeah! Natsu's team needs help! Cana's team is already on their way!"

"What about Erza's location?"  
"She's here too, at the gardens, fighting. You don't need to worry about her. I'm sure she'll tell us everything after this is over."

"Alright! We're going!"

The Thunder Legion left the barracks and made their way to the gardens as fast as they could go. They immediately joined the fight once they got there, fighting against Raven Tail members. The knights had switched from fighting Fairy Tail to Raven Tail thanks to Erza's command, but most of them were wiped out all ready.

"Lucy!"

Laxus turned to the sound of the Natsu's voice. He was pushing the panicked guests aside, reaching for Lucy, but she was too far.

"Natsu!"

Lucy was thrown over his father's shoulder, causing Laxus to stop for a moment: this was the first time in years that he's seen him. Every time he does, he always getting chills running down his spin. No matter how old he gets, it never changes.

Ivan locked eyes with his son for just a moment before running around the corner…

Laxus was getting ready to chase after them, but Natsu beat him to it. With that look of determination in his eyes, he knew that his dad would get a beaten and that Lucy would be okay. Nothing stops an angry dragon slayer.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Levy ran through the dining room, stopping for only a moment to shout, "Lu! Lu, can you hear me?!". When no answer was heard, she took off running again, refusing to stop to catch her breath.

Where in the world could Ivan had taken her?! She had already looked in Lucy's room. Then she checked Ivan's, but they were nowhere to be found…maybe they were in the king and queen's office.

Levy spun around and made her way there, panting hard, but never stopping. She felt bad: she left Fairy Tail to deal with Raven Tail as she snuck away to find Lucy. "Lu!" She shouted, looking around, "Lucy! Where are you?!"

"Shrimp!"

Levy spun around, panting, "Gajeel! Lily!" She smiled happily at them. It had been a while since she's seen them…and boy, did she miss Gajeel! She missed having all those lame conversations with them: boring him to death by talking about books and him boring her to death by talking about iron. And she couldn't forget about their date when this mess was all over! She couldn't wait!

It surprised her that when Gajeel reached her, he wrapped his arms around and squeezed her to him. It was only for a moment though. Gajeel wasn't a hugger, but giving her that little hug must've meant something.

"We're so glad, you're okay!" Gajeel exclaimed, "We've been looking for you!"

Pantherlily gave Gajeel a knowing look after the hug, but didn't comment. "Where'd you run off to, Levy? It's not safe to be running around the castle alone right now."

"S-sorry," Levy answered after she recovered from her shock from the hug. "I'm looking for Lucy. She was taken by Ivan and I'm scared that she's going to get hurt!"

"She'll be fine. Salamander's got her. With him around, nobody will touch her. Come on, we've got to get you outta here." Gajeel grabbed a hold of Levy's wrist, but she pulled away before his grip tightened.

"No! I can't just leave Lucy! I understand that Natsu is protecting her, but still!"

"We'll protect you, Levy!"

Levy jumped and spun around that the new voices. "Jet? Droy? Where'd you two come from?"

Gajeel groaned behind her and Pantherlily sighed, "we were teamed up with them."

"Teamed up with them?" Levy turned to Lily with questionable eyes.

"We'll tell you about it later. We have to get out of here first."

"Don't worry about Bunny Girl," Gajeel said, "We all plan to leave the castle grounds at the same time so we aren't leaving without her. We're taking you to Warren, Alzack, and Bisca who are outside waiting for us."

"But…"

"If Salamander doesn't come out with Bunny Girl after thirty minutes, I'll go check on them for you. Alright?"

Levy hesitated, but agreed, "alright."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Queen Layla stomped through the halls. She could be any angrier. She was angry at Fairy Tail for attacking them after she paid them to protect her and her family (though she was sure they had a good reason). She was angry at Ivan for infiltrating them and killing her husband. She was angry at Lucy for falling in love with a commoner (she found and read a few of their letters and she could tell she loved this Natsu person). She was angry at Raven Tail for starting a war she never understood. Most of all, she was angry at herself for letting all of this happen. She let Ivan get hired, she let Fairy Tail take Lucy away and change her (Lucy no longer acted like herself; she wanted to go back to Fairy Tail.), she was angry she let Raven Tail get the best of her, and she was angry that she was stupid for not thinking through all of this. If she stopped and thought, surely things would've turned out for the better.

"I swear, Ivan Dreyar," Layla shouted, "if you hurt one hair on my daughter's head, I'll have you executed!" Not that he wasn't going to be executed anyway. He killed King Jude. "Come on out! Where are you?!"

"You're Majesty!"

Layla turned around to the sweet voice and three figures. They all had silvery hair and looked alike. She recognized the one in front. They were from Fairy Tail.

"My name is Mirajane," Mira bowed respectfully, though this was no time to be respectful. There was a bloody battle going on for goodness' sakes. "And this is my brother and sister, Elfman and Lisanna. We're apart of Fairy Tail and-"

"Why have you and your guild come to attack us?! After all that's happened, this is what we get?!"

"You're Majesty, with all do respect, we don't mean to hurt you or your family. We're only doing what we think is right. You see, each and every one of us has grown to love Lucy…and Levy too and we just couldn't have to her married to someone she didn't love."

"But that wasn't your decision to make, now wasn't it?! Are you the queen, Miss Mirajane? No! You're not! You had no right to-"

"Malady," Lisanna said, bowing, "we understand exactly what our rights are, but we do things the way we think. It's the Fairy Tail way. However, right now, we need to get you out of here. We really don't have time to chitchat. We'll explain everything after we take you to the guild hall to keep you safe."

"…I will go with you to hear your explanation from your master, but I'm not leaving without my daughter!"

"There's no need to worry. Some of us have gone to rescue her from Ivan. One of them is one of our strongest. She'll be safe."

Trusting the kind siblings in front of her, Layla agreed to go with them.

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 **I did it! I really thought I wouldn't get this done before I had to leave for camp (speaking of which, I'm leaving Monday)! WOO HOO! I hope you guys enjoyed and again, I'm really sorry for the long wait for this. After a few weeks, I felt bad for leaving you guys on such a cliffhanger for so long! I doubt I'll get ch 26 written before I leave, but I'll try.**

 **-zEllie**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 26)

Ivan set the sharpener down and walked toward her with the knife, shining in his hands. "Your time ends now."

Lucy's eyes widened. Natsu wasn't here! "W-wait! Wait!"

"Goodbye, Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut as Ivan brought the blade down. There was a loud clanging noise, causing her to shot her eyes back open. She jumped in surprise when she saw that the blade was right next to her face in the wall, dulling and chipping it.

" _He…missed?..._ "

Ivan was on the floor on the other side of the room, blood coming out of his mouth. Lucy blinked at his pained expression.

"Touch her again and I'll end you."

Lucy gasped and spun toward the voice. Half of his figure was hidden in the shadows a few feet away from her. He was angry and his fists were on fire and he was shooting a deadly glare at Ivan.

"Natsu!" Lucy was more than happy to see him. Not just because he saved her life, but to see him in general.

Natsu's eyes left Ivan and landed on her. His angry expression changed and a smile appeared. "Hey Luce. Long time, no see."

Lucy smiled back with tears coming to her eyes, "Yeah, same to you."

There was something in his eyes when he looked at her…There was definitely relief, but also a bit of…love? No way! Natsu couldn't _possibly_ feel the same way, could he?

Ivan grunted as he got onto his feet, focusing Natsu's attention back onto him. His anger was back. "I knew it was you who killed the king…I just knew it."

"You're hunch was spot on," Ivan replied as he stood up. "You're Natsu Dragneel right? The Infamous Salamander of Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah, and you're the guy I get to beat up for killing Lucy's dad?"

Ivan smirked, suddenly covered in armor. Lucy didn't know he could ex-quip like Erza. "You are correct again, except I will be the one giving the beating."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Positive."

"You made Lucy cry," Natsu lit his hands on fire. "Therefore, I'm gonna hurt ya!" Then he charged.

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"Natsu! Can you hear me?! Lucy! How bout you?!" Warren squinted his eyes, trying to use more of his magic energy to reach them, but no matter how hard he tried, neither Natsu or Lucy responded. "Dang it! I can't reach them!"

"It's okay, Warren," Bisca pat his shoulder, "they might be underground. You can't really reach them from underground, can you?"

"If I use a ton of magic energy I could, but I've already used a lot to reach the other teams so I don't have enough. Dang it! I should've known! I should've saved up magic energy for this moment! I should've known!"

"Warren, I'm sure both Natsu and Lucy are fine. Natsu can well take care of himself, and Lucy will be fine with him around. Why don't you take a break to give your body a chance to absorb the ethernano? Let us keep watch. We'll alert you if we see anything."

"Well, alright. I might fall asleep…wake me if anyone is trying to contact us!"

"Don't worry," Alzack said as he sat down on a rock and looked over the castle. They were on a hill outside of it. "We will."

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Gray walked among many of the wounded and unconscious bodies in the courtyard where the ceremony took place; he was currently looking for any of his teammates so he could get them to Wendy to be healed. Why was Raven Tail here? They must've known about the royal wedding to be attacking. This couldn't be a coincidence. Raven Tail couldn't have just appeared _right_ after they crashed the wedding.

Gray stopped when he spotted a figure. He gasped and ran over to her. "Juvia!"

Juvia opened her eyes only to start coughing up blood, but she still had a smile on her face. "G-Gray…"

"Juvia! Hang in there! I'm going to get you to Wendy! Stay conscious, okay?! Stay conscious!"

"G-Gray, you're hurt…"

He had a big cut across his chest and it throbbed every time he breathed, but he was already bandaged up and cared for by Wendy. Even if he wasn't, Juvia was in much more pain: many cuts on her arms and legs and a few on her cheeks. Her clothes were torn as well.

"Don't worry about me," Gray leaned down and put his hands under her back and knees. "Put your arms around my neck."

Juvia blushed, but remained silent and obeyed, hugging Gray to her. She felt herself being lifted up in bridal style and being carried somewhere. Juvia didn't care though. As long as Gray was there, she didn't care where she was.

"Gray?"

"Yes?"

"Is Lucy?…"

"She's with Natsu. You don't have to worry about her."

Juvia let out a sigh of relief and a few moments went by before she leaned up and pecked Gray's cheek, causing him to blush, stop, and turn to her.

"Thank you," Juvia smiled, "for coming to get me."

Gray smiled back before saying, "you're welcome."

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Natsu let his breath out in a huff before breathing in shakily. He had an eye closed and his body ached all over, but he was still on his feet and he wasn't planning on falling to his knees.

Lucky for him, Ivan was the same way, except that he _was_ on his knees. With a little more magic energy, he might be able to finish him off, but no guarantees. Natsu knew he was in bad shape as well. If Ivan found his weak spots, he might be done for.

Lucy was behind him, crying. She had never seen Natsu bleed and she never wanted to. It was a horrible sight. The red did not compliment his hair or his clothes. It was horrible on him. It reminded her of her father's blood and that brought death. To her, seeing Natsu's blood would mean death would follow. Of course, that wasn't true, but she was still scared and didn't want him to die.

"Ivan! Please stop! I'll do anything you ask me to! Just don't hurt him anymore!"

"You know, Luce," Natsu panted heavily, "even if he agrees, you know I'll never let him take you."

Lucy cried harder, knowing full well that he was right.

"Natsu!"  
Lucy, Natsu, and Ivan turned around to see a figure running toward them.

"Gajeel?!" Natsu exclaimed, "what the heck are you doing here?! I don't need any help taking him out!"

"There's no time!" Gajeel said, ripping the chains off the wall and bringing Lucy to her feet. "The knights are starting to look for the queen. If we don't leave now, we'll be caught. Everyone's waiting for you, anyway!"

"You're kidnapping the princess _and_ the queen?" Ivan shook his head in disapproval. "Oh, the norm of Fairy Tail: getting what they want no matter what…it's a shame."

"I'm in a middle of a fight!" Natsu complained, "I don't wanna go!"

Gajeel bit into the chains around Lucy's wrists, ripping them off. Lucy let out a yelp in the process, feeling Gajeel's pointed teeth dig into her skin. "Ah!"

Natsu growled at the iron dragon slayer, "watch it!"

"You can fight him later!" Gajeel exclaimed, letting go of Lucy and crashing his iron arm against the ground in front of Ivan, creating a smoke screen. "Let's go!"

Lucy quickly kicked off her high heels before lifting her now dirty wedding dress and running as fast as she could go. Gajeel and Natsu close behind her.

She gasped when she felt Natsu lift her off her feet, bridal style. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his hair, crying still, but this time, tears of joy. She was going back to Fairy Tail again. She was going back to Natsu again.

Natsu nuzzled against her cheek as a reply. She shivered when she felt his breath blow against her ear.

"YOU WON'T GET AWAY FROM ME, FAIRY TAIL WIZARDS!"

Lucy gasped at Ivan's voice and clung tighter to Natsu's neck by instinct. Gajeel and he ran faster.

"Which way is the exit?!" Natsu exclaimed.

"This way! Follow me!"

Natsu slowed down for a moment, then turned to sprint down another hall after Gajeel.

They ran up some stairs before turning a series of corners.

"-cy! Gajeel! Natsu! Can you hear me?!"

Lucy gasped before smiling brightly, "Warren! Yeah, we can hear you!"

"Finally! I've been trying to reach you for so long! It's good to hear your voice, Lucy! How are you doing?!"  
"I'm fine! Natsu and Gajeel are with me! We're on our way out and being chased by Ivan. I don't see him though. I think we'll make it!"

"We'll send Erza in to back you up just in case!"

"Erza?! She's here?!"

"Yeah! And she's fine too!"  
"Awesome! Where has she been?!"  
"She said she'd tell us later! Hurry up and get out of there! Then we'll talk some more!"

"Okay!"

Lucy looked up and gasped, "Natsu! Gajeel! I see him! He's getting closer!"

"You won't get away from me!"

"Oh yes they will!" Erza appeared in front of them.

"Erza!" Lucy exclaimed with a smile.

Natsu and Gajeel stopped and turned to look at her. "Erza! We gotta go!"

"Just a moment!" Erza summoned a sword and slashed Ivan a few times. He yelped and fell toward the ground, gripping his arm.

"Go!" Erza commanded and the three of them, plus Lucy, were out the castle doors in a matter of seconds.

"Lucy! Lucy!"

Lucy turned to see Levy waving at her from the top of a hill. Mira and Lisanna squealed at the sight of her before hugging. Her mother breathed a sigh of relief at her daughter's safety. Cana smiled at her as the boys waved.

"Come on!" Warren exclaimed at he waved them toward a magic mobile where Gray was hooked up to the SE-plug waiting for them.

When Lucy felt the mobile moving, she let out a sigh of relief as she snuggled into her favorite boy.

"Welcome home, Lucy," Natsu said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"…I'm home."

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 **It's done! I hope you enjoyed. I skipped the fight scene because as you already know, I'm absolutely** _ **horrible**_ **at it! That is my weakness in writing. Other than that, I think I did pretty well.**

 **-zEllie**


	27. Chapter 27

**HUGE NALU MOMENT COMING!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 27) 

Lucy hadn't realized she fell asleep until she opened her eyes and looked up at the white, popcorn ceiling. She rubbed her eyes and sat up to find herself in her bedroom at Fairy Tail. She smiled a bit before looking over and seeing a set of fresh clothes laid out on the bedside next to her. Lucy mentally thanked Mira before getting up and changing out of her filthy, wedding dress.

After undoing her hair and putting it up in her classic side-pony, Lucy walked out of her room into the hallway and down the stairs. Her mother was across the bustling hall, talking to Master Makarov. She didn't look the least bit happy…probably because the guild kidnapped her, but she didn't look completely angry like she did on the way here so that must be good.

Lucy suddenly felt a disturbing feeling curl up in her stomach. She suddenly felt really guilty. She felt like she betrayed all her friends by leaving them to marry who she now knows is Makarov's son. She didn't even like him as a person and she chose to marry him _for the people_. The people, whether they had a bad king or not, weren't going to have ruined lives. Lucy liberally chose to ruin her _own_ life. She was put under so much stress that she didn't think fully. She just chose what she thought was right.

" _I'm a horrible person_ ," Lucy blinked away tears coming to her eyes as she walked toward her mom and Makarov.

They looked up at her. "Hi sweetie," Layla smiled, "it's good to see that you've woken up."

Lucy bit her lip and smiled in response before turning to the old man sipping what she thought was beer. "Master?…"

Master Makarov looked up with her with a shocked impression for a moment before smiling.

Lucy blinked before realizing why he was shocked: she just called him master…

"Hello Lucy. It's good to have you back."

Lucy trembled, "I-I'm so…"

"You don't have to apologize, my dear. You're reason was a noble one and I'm proud of your decision."

"…but I feel like I…I-I betrayed…"

It was like he knew exactly what she was thinking and feeling. "All of us here never had a single thought that your actions were a betrayal. In fact, if I didn't love you like my daughter, I wouldn't have allowed my children to go save you. I do not care whether or not this was for the good. Whether you're a princess or a commoner, whether you wear our mark or not, you are apart of our family now…and we never let family go."

Upon hearing Master Makarov's touching words, Lucy burst into tears, not caring how loud she was. It didn't matter anyway because the whole guild was silent and listening. When Lucy started to cry, they flooded around her, wrapping her up in a hug like a Christmas gift.

"I love you all!" Lucy bawled, trying to put as many of them in her arms as she could.

"We love you too, Lucy!"

"Welcome back, Lucy!"

"You're a real man, Lucy!"

"What's that have to do with anything, idiot?!"

"It's good to have you back, Lucy!"

"You're really important to us, Lucy!"

"WE SHOULD PARTY!" Lucy laughed when she heard Cana shout. Of course, knowing her, that's what she'd shout… "WE SHOULD CELEBRATE LUCY'S RETURN! MIRA, BRING OUT THE BOOZE!"

"You drink anyway!"

"Who cares?! Besides, this is a special occasion!"  
"I agree with Cana! LET'S PARTY!"

"YEAH! I'M IN!"

"ME TOO!"

Lucy wiped her now joyful tears away when the gigantic group hug broke apart. The party began and she turned to Makarov again, but he had begun to talk to Wendy and Carla about who knows what.

" _I guess I'll just tell him about Ivan's plan later…_ "

"Lucy?"

Lucy turned around, "yes Mom?"

"Can you come with me for a moment please?"

" _This can't be good…_ " Lucy nodded, "sure."

The two blondes made their way to a quieter place in the guild hall. Lucy noted that her mother was dressed completely different than usual. It was probably clothes Mira gave her. Instead of a long dress, she was wearing a white skirt that flowed to her knees. For some reason, Lucy found it funny that her skirt was a foot shorter than hers. Layla was also wearing a plain purple T-shirt with a single pocket in the front. Her hair was still up in its bun with the same amount of make up and jewelry on her.

She almost bumped into her mother when she stopped; she took a step back and waited as her mother turned around.

"This group of people…" she started, glancing at something interesting on the wall, "…I can see why you love it here…I can see why you didn't want to leave."

"Yeah," Lucy smiled, "they're very fun-loving and exciting…"

Layla frowned and bit her bottom lip, "…Master Makarov filled me in on everything…I'm so sorry I had to put you through that."

"Mom," Lucy smiled wider, waving a hand dismissively, "it wasn't your fault. It was my decision, remember?"

"Still…I could've stopped this from happening somehow."

"We were cornered and fooled. Ivan is smart, no doubt about it. He got us distracted easily and tricked. Who knows where we'd be if it weren't for Fairy Tail."

Layla hummed in reply. "This guild is a good influence. I can tell they love you…and you love them in return."

"I do. So you don't mind if I stay here?"

"No, not at all…however, you still have your duties as a princess."

Lucy sighed, "I know."

A moment of silence passed.

"So…" Layla started again, "this pink haired boy you like…"

Lucy went red and gasped, "I-I don't like him!"

"Are you sure about that?" Layla wrinkled her eyebrows. "You gave me a little hint a few weeks ago…and I've heard you talk to Levy about it. You always shush her…worried that I would hear."  
"Mom!" Lucy exclaimed, "I don't like Natsu!" She took a deep breath, suddenly confident in her feelings…maybe it was because it wasn't directly to him. "I don't have a crush on Natsu…I'm in love with him."

Her mother's giggling stopped and she looked straight into her daughter's eyes. " _She's serious_ …" Layla never thought her daughter would fall for a commoner. That wasn't what she wanted, but she promised herself that if it came to that case, she wouldn't stop her. Her parents let her marry a commoner, Jude, but luckily he became the king rather than she becoming a commoner. She would treat her daughter like her parents treated her. Besides, who knows, maybe this Natsu fellow would become the king someday…

"Is that so?..." Layla sighed and Lucy gulped. Why did she say that? This isn't good. "Well," she continued, "then I wish you the best of luck with him."  
Lucy's jaw dropped, "are you serious?!"

Layla giggled, "yes, I'm serious."

Lucy squealed before pulling her in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, a hundred times thank you!"

Layla giggled again before returning the hug. "You're welcome, Sweetheart."

"I love you, Mama!"

"I love you too, Lucy…now go!" Layla gently pushed her daughter away. "Go find him!"

She didn't need to be told twice. She's been wanting to find Natsu all day. "Right! Thank you! Goodbye!" She darted off.

Lucy got to the main hall and her eyes immediately darted all over, looking for pink hair. She frowned in disappointment when there was none and she went to nearest people, Macao and Wakaba, for help.

"Macao, Wakaba," she said, "have you seen, Natsu?"

Macao gave a knowing glance at Wakaba before answering. "we haven't seen him all day actually. We thought he was with you in your room, but obviously now he's not."

"He might be out in the woods," Wakaba said, "I think I heard from Mira or someone that he was taking a walk."

"Okay," Lucy said happily, "thank you!" She ran off again.

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"Natsu~!" Lucy called, stopping for a moment before running through the woods again. "Natsu!" She didn't know why she was running like this was an emergency. All she knew that she really wanted to see him.

When she finally stopped running, she had to take big, deep breaths and put her hands on her knees. She doesn't understand. Natsu has ultra dragon hearing. Even if he was miles away from her, he should've been able to hear her.

Lucy stood back up straight before calling one more time. "Natsu~!"

No answer.

She sighed, disappointed.

"You called?"

Lucy gasped and spun around to see her favorite dragon slayer leaned back, coolly, against the wall…and he had his cute, big grin on his face.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Since you stopped…I was following you."

Lucy pouted. "You idiot! Why didn't you answer me?!" She was not athletic in the slightest. That running she did was like a cross-country race for her.

Natsu just smirked, "because I enjoyed watching you desperately looking for me."

Lucy went red. "Well I wouldn't have to if a certain someone was in the guild hall to begin with…why are you out here anyway?"

Natsu looked away, "because I wanted to think."

"What were you thinking about?"

"…you."

Lucy grew silent and redder as time seemed to stop for her…and maybe it was for him too…she couldn't tell. Natsu looked back up at her with a blank expression and it seemed to put a hole in her soul. She felt her knees shaking and the tears coming back…the guilt was back; she felt like she betrayed him. She looked down at her feet. "Natsu, I-"

"I was planning on coming to get you beforehand."

She glanced back up at him, "w-what?"

"Before the whole wedding issue," he said, "I was planning on breaking into the castle and stealing you. Talking by letter wasn't good enough…I missed you."

Lucy blinked rapidly, "me too."

"It was nice way of talking though…except that last letter."

"Huh?"

"Your goodbye letter: 'Sincerely for the last time'?...Really Lucy?"

Lucy looked at a tree, "I-"

"It was confusing. What do you mean 'for the last time'? You were just getting married. You weren't dying or anything…I wasn't going to let you get married anyway…not to some random idiot you don't like."

"What if I did?" Lucy suddenly had this question pop up and curiosity got the best of her. "What if I did love him? What if I really did want to marry him? Would you still have crashed the wedding?"

Natsu looked away and it grew quiet as the warm wind blew past them. It seemed like an eternity before he answered: "Yes, I would."

A few moments went by again.

"…I thought of you every second of every day."

Natsu's mouth dropped and he looked with her.

"I kept rereading your letters to me while I was trying to make the decision. I wanted to come back to Fairy Tail and I wanted to stay with you _so badly_ …but I thought about all these people living in this country," she could feel the tears prick her eyes and her vision of a surprised Natsu was now blurry. She looked away and bit her lip. "They all wanted Ivan as their new king…and my mom was too old to bear him a child…so it was up to me. I didn't want to disappoint my mom…or the people…but I really _really_ wanted to be with you."

"Lucy…"

The tears dripped down and she swallowed the lump in her throat, "All my life, I've been raised to be a princess. To do what the people need, to think of them before myself, to put their security before my own…I-I can't even remember what drove me to choose to marry Ivan now! Maybe I was s-scared to disappoint my mother or because that's how I was raised…I don't know…but Natsu," she looked up at him, completely bawling like earlier, "after I made that decision, I didn't think I was ever going to see you again!...and that killed me!"

"L-Lucy…"

Lucy took two shaky steps toward him before stumbling. She thought she was going to fall, but then he was standing right in front of her, with his arms tightly around her back.

She felt safe…she felt like nothing in the world could ever touch her again. She felt like she could be surrounded by dangers, but would be safe in his arms. She sobbed into his scarf while her arms end up around his back. Natsu's face was in her hair, breathing in her scent while rubbing her back, trying to calm her down.

When her tears soaked into his scarf and her sobbing quieted, Natsu spoke up, "I don't care who you are…you can be a dirty beggar for all I care; you're mine. It didn't matter if you chose me or Ivan, you're still mine. You could be trapped in the lowest cell surrounded by demons, I'm going to come get you because you're mine. You don't have to want to stay with me because you already are with me…and I'm not going to let you go."

Lucy's heart skipped a beat at his words and her courage was suddenly spiked. She was almost 100% sure that he loved her back:

"Natsu, I love you."

Natsu stiffened.

…

"W-…what did you just say?"

"I said I love you, Natsu."

It was like his whole world stopped and the only thing he could see was her and the only thing he could feel was something strangely wonderful growing rapidly inside his heart.

Lucy pulled back, looked up, and giggled at his star struck face. " _He totally loves me back_." Her heart skipped another beat at her own thoughts. "Natsu!" She waved in front of his face, "did I kill you or something?"

She was suddenly yanked back into his arms and her face was in his scarf again. "I love you too!" He hugged her tighter before repeating, "I love you too, Lucy!"

Lucy felt a smile growing and she snuggled against him. "I know you do." It was still nice to hear him say it though.

Lucy leaned back a bit to look him in the eyes before pulling down on his scarf and leaning up. Natsu got the message and closed his eyes. She followed in suit before standing on her tip-toes.

And their noses bumped a bit before their lips met…

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 **SOOO CUTEE! And Ha! I love to kill you guys with my cliffhangers! I hope you enjoyed the NaLu!**

 **-zEllie**


	28. Chapter 28

**Ah! It's** _ **the**_ **moment! AND I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I'M ALMOST DONE WITH MY FIRST SERIES EVER! I'm actually a little sad….**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 28)

When their lips met, Lucy could feel a warming feeling flow through her veins like she just touched – no, _kissed_ fire! It was amazing!

She felt her brain go on autopilot as she melted. The fire was so warm and soothing and she wanted to stay in it forever. It was never too hot and like fireworks, they sparked. Lucy couldn't get enough of it.

However, she had to pull back for oxygen. Panting, she shyly glanced up to meet this onyx eyes and immediately, she could tell Natsu had the same thought running through his head as she did:

" _That was the most amazing kiss ever…_ "

"I love you…" Lucy found the need to say it again. She needed for the words to reach his ears again. After a fantastic kiss like that, she felt like she needed to say it again…of course, she'd say it anyway, as many times as he wanted her to.

Natsu replied by smashing his lips back onto hers again and tightened his grip on her waist. Lucy found herself wrapping her arms around his neck as she was met with the incredible fire again. She could tell that it was burning fiercer; the last kiss was tender, sweet, and filled with emotion. This one was filled with passion…this was filled with emotion too, but this had a lot more passion in it.

Lucy didn't know who had deepened the kiss – either him or herself – but before she knew it, their tongues were fighting and she was losing the battle.

Suddenly, her fingers brushed something incredibly soft. Moving her fingers up curiously, she froze when she realized what it was. " _Oh my gosh! His hair is so incredibly soft!_ " She ran her fingers through it, still amazed by the softness. The shock had distracted her and she lost the battle they were fighting; however, she didn't care.

The need for oxygen was apparent again and Natsu nipped at her lips before pulling back. He panted before saying, "I love you too," and then rested his forehead against hers.

She smiled as she closed her eyes, panting.

After a few moments of silence, Natsu spoke up again, "I like the feeling of your hands in my hair."

"You have the softest head ever!" Lucy exclaimed with the biggest smile. She put her hands back into this hair and rubbed back and forth. "So fluffy!"

"Hey!" Natsu exclaimed, pulling away. "Don't mess up my hair!" She knew he wasn't the least bit mad, he had a huge smile on his face. They both did.

"Aww," Lucy put her hands together, giddily. "I didn't know you cared so much about your hair! That's cute, Natsu!"

Natsu blushed and pouted, "I _don't_ care! I just like it spiked up and I thought you'd smooth it out."

The way he pouted like a baby, arms crossed at his chest and turning away embarrassingly while blushing, was just absolutely adorable! It made Lucy just want to pull him toward her and kiss him again. However, she just giggled. She was still out of breath and recovering from their previous kisses.

Natsu looked at her, "have I ever told you that you have the cutest laugh ever?"

Lucy blushed, "no."

"Oh…Well, you have the cutest laugh ever."

She laughed at him before feeling herself being pulled back against him in a hug. She wrapped her arms back around him.

"I can not stop smiling," Natsu's words her muffled, but she made them out.

"I can't either," and just the thought about it made the corners of her lips curl upwards even more. "And honestly, I don't want to."

"I don't either."

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Lucy was a little nervous when she and Natsu reached the guild hall, holding hands and still smiling. Would people immediately notice? Would they congratulate them? Would they demand them to kiss in front of them all? Would they bombard them with questions? All of this was most likely. However, when the new couple walked in, not one person noticed the change of atmosphere…probably because they were all tipsy from partying. Lucy didn't mind; she didn't want to answer questions…especially the inappropriate ones she didn't wanna think about…

"Lucy!"

Well, scratch that, _one_ person noticed.

Levy ran up to them with the widest smile on her face and grabbed a hold of Lucy's right hand (the left was being held by Natsu). She glanced at Natsu gave him an apologetic look, "sorry Natsu, but I'm gonna steal her from you for a bit!"

Natsu groaned in annoyance, not wanting to be apart from Lucy, but let go of her hand anyway. As she was being dragged away, Lucy looked back at him with a saddened look, feeling the same as him, but followed Levy and waved, "I'll be back!"

Natsu smirked, "don't miss me too much!"

With a glare from the blonde, the two friends disappeared around the corner away from a laughing dragon slayer and guild members drinking themselves to sleep.

Lucy found herself in the library with the short blue haired mage and she was sat down in a chair quickly. Levy plopped down in front of her.

"Spill," she demanded. "Start from the top. Leave no details out."

"What are you talking about?" Lucy tried to play innocent, but with the reddest blush, biggest smile, and the happiness in her voice, there was no way Levy would let it slip by.

"Don't play innocent, Lu! I'm talking about you and Natsu of course! How did it happen?!" The eager look in her eyes made Lucy giggle. "How did you two confess to each other?!"

"What makes you think we confessed?"

" _Stop stalling!~_ " Levy whined causing Lucy to laugh harder. "I'm not an idiot Lucy; you out of everyone know that. You walked in holding hands and neither of you could stop smiling. Just tell me already! Who confessed first?! Was it you!? Was it Natsu?! What happened?! _Tell me!_ "

"Levy!" Lucy stopped torturing her best friend by stalling and explained everything that happened. From her mother's approval all the way to when Natsu and she walked through the guild hall doors. With every sentence spoken, Levy's eyes would grow wide with either surprise, fascination, or both. Every once in a while, she'd go "aww" and press her hand to her heart like she was touched.

By the end, Lucy's smile was as wide as it could go and her cheeks hurt really bad, but she still didn't want to stop. She was happy.

"That…" Levy wiped her invisible tears from her eyes, "…is so cute!"

Lucy giggled, "I know…so! How are you and Gajeel?"

Levy's fangirling-self was gone. "What?!"

"You know what I mean…also, I thought up a cute nickname for you two: GaLe."

Levy gasped in horror as the blonde giggled. Honestly, GaLe sounded nice…but beyond the point! "W-well then…I'll h-have to call you and Natsu Nacy!...wait, that doesn't sound cool….uh..NaLu! There! That sounds awesome! Comes right off the tongue…kinda flows together too…NaLu…"

"Sorry, Levy," Lucy winked, "though I do like the sound of that, you can't tease me about Natsu anymore. However, I could tease you about Gajeel – oh! Excuse me, _GaLe_ – all I want."

Levy pouted, "that's not fair!"

"That's what you get for not confessing! And don't you two have a date?"

"Huh?" Levy raised an eyebrow. "A date? What?"

"Didn't you tell me that Gajeel asked you out before we left for Crocus? You told me that you and he would go out when you got back."

Levy gasped, "oh yeah! I _totally_ forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me! I'm gonna go tell him!"

Lucy laughed as her friend dashed out of the library and sighed. At first, she sat there before getting up and running out of room herself. Why stay there alone when she could be with Natsu?

When she reached the main area where most people were drunk and acting crazy. She took a quick glance around the hall, looking for pink hair. When there was none, she left quickly, not wanting to get caught in the drunken mess. One time, while she was staying there, the whole guild was drunk and when they're drunk, they're scary, especially Erza…Lucy was probably no different…not that she's ever gotten drunk before.

Lucy didn't really know where else to search. "Hmm…If I was Natsu, where would I be?..."

"Following my girl around."

She gasped, spun around, and lo and behold, Natsu was leaned back against the wall, grinning at her.

"You idiot!" She exclaimed, "stop doing that!" She walked up to him and jabbed him in the chest with her finger. "This is the second time today I've had to look for you when you were following me around! Knock it off!"

"You know, you're cute when you're mad," Natsu smirked and quickly pecked her lips, taking her off guard. "Did you miss me?"

"No, not at all."

"You're a horrible liar, you know that right?"

Lucy laughed. It was so hard to stay mad at him…not like she wanted to anyway. She pouted and turned away. Her pout always involved puffing out her cheek; it was something Natsu loved watching her do. "I'm not _that_ bad of a liar."

"No, you're pretty bad."

"Am not!"  
"Are too."

"Am not!"  
"Are too."

"Am not!"

" _Anyway_ ," Natsu huffed out, causing Lucy to laugh at his annoyance. He smiled at her laugh before kissing her again, "even if you are a liar, I still love you."

She giggled, "I love you too."

A moment of silence before Natsu spoke again, "You know Luce…I like the sound of NaLu…"

"You were listening…"

"Of course I was…and who knew the bookworm would fall for Metalface."

"Hey," Lucy defended her friend, "you can't help who you fall for."

"Oi," Natsu poked her cheek. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, when we first met, I didn't like you…look where we are now."

"How could you have not liked me? I'm too hot," he smirked.

"Oh, I've always thought you were hot. I just didn't like you."

"Oh really?" he smirked again. "You always thought I was hot huh?"

" _Anyway!_ " Lucy blushed and avoided the question, causing Natsu to laugh at her embarrassment. Why did she say that? "Yes, I agree. I like NaLu too…that should be our thing now."

"Our thing? You mean what people call us?"  
"Yup."

"I like it!" Natsu smiled widely, "from now on, we're called NaLu!"

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 **Man, I** _ **love**_ **this chapter! And I like the way I added NaLu in this. I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-zEllie**


	29. Chapter 29

**I'm SO sorry this took so long! I had writer's block!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 29)

Levy giddily searched around the guild hall for the Iron Dragon Slayer. She was talking with him a minute ago before she saw Natsu and Lucy walk in together. Now that Lucy had reminded her of her date, Levy was excited! It would be her first date with the first boy she had fallen in love with.

"Gajeel!" She called, "Gajeel! Where are you?!"

Cana looked over, smirking. She, too, noticed Natsu and Lucy coming in the guild hall together almost immediately, but didn't say anything. She wanted them to have their little moment before harassing them about it later in front of the whole guild. Now, it was time for Levy to get together with Gajeel. What is this, Valentine's Day? Why is everyone hooking up with one another? Well, any who, Cana couldn't wait to see how these two will end up. "Good luck, Levy," she said before chugging on her booze.

"Cana!" Levy turned to her, "have you seen Gajeel?"  
"Yeah, I have. He's outside the guild hall against the wall."

Levy raised an eyebrow, "why?"  
"How should I know? Anyway, that's where he is."

"Okay," Levy smiled at her friend before turning around, "thanks Cana. See you later!"

"See ya."

Levy made her way outside, looking left and right before seeing him with his hands behind his head against the wall. His eyes were closed and he looked rather peaceful. Levy almost didn't want to disturb him.

" _No! I want that first date you promised!_ "

"Gajeel!"

Gajeel popped one of his red eyes open to look at her before cracking a crooked smile. "Yo Shrimp!"

Levy ran up to him before pouting. "My name is not Shrimp and you know it!" She sighed as he chuckled. Both his eyes were open now and she caught herself almost getting lost in them. Oh, how could he hypnotize her in a matter of seconds… "Anyway, what are you doing out here?"

"Its way too rowdy in there for me to relax so I have to come out here where it's quiet. What are you doing out here?"

"I was looking for you actually. Do you remember what you told me we'd do when I got back from Crocus?"

Gajeel blinked, "Uh….no. Should I?"

"Yes! You should! You asked me out, remember?"

Gajeel blinked again in confusion before his eyes widened in realization. "Oh!" Yeah…he totally forgot about that… "Yeah, I did, didn't I?"

Levy nodded and Gajeel could see the sparkle of excitement in her eyes. He was really nervous when he asked her out. After he did it, relief sunk in and he felt better. However, that weeks ago! The nervousness was now back…but Levy looked really excited in front of him. He hated to take away that sparkle by just saying "not now" or "maybe later" and avoid the topic.

"Alright then," Gajeel stood up straight before stretching and cracking his back. "Let's go."

Levy clapped her hands in joy, before a frown replaced her smile. "Oh, I don't have anything to wear for the occasion."

"That's okay. You look pretty enough as it is."

Levy blushed as she looked down at her orange dress. "T-thank you…so, where are we going?"

"How about a restaurant?"

Levy smiled, "sounds good! I can't wait!"

Gajeel smiled before taking her hand and leading her toward their destination.

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Erza smiled at her two new friends in front of her before saying, "thank you again for all your help. We really appreciate it."

"It's not a problem," Ultear replied with her own smile. "We were happy to help."

"When we heard that Raven Tail declared war on the royal family, we immediately did everything we could behind the scenes to help," Meldy said. "We'll probably be keeping an eye of them for a little while longer after the war ends. Do you and Mr. Makarov know what you're going to do next?"

"Oh I don't know," Erza looked to the side as the wind blew by. She paused in thought for a moment before turning back to Ultear and Meldy. "We'll probably confront them, which would most likely cause a battle, but Master always has surprises up his sleeves so I don't know for sure."

Meldy looked at the black haired mage, "We might wanna stick around for that."

"Yes," Ultear agreed, "when Jellal gets back, we should probably let him know as well."

"Speaking of Jellal," Erza spoke, "I had originally figured that he'd appear during the battle at the wedding. Do you know where he is now?"

"No," Ultear shook her head, "but knowing him, he's fine. He made it seem like it was important so we didn't pry and try to stop him."

"He'll be fine though, Erza," Meldy smiled brightly. "Jellal's tough!"

Erza giggled, "Oh, I have no doubt about that! When you see him again, tell him I said hi."

"You haven't seen him in a while, have you?"

"No," Erza replied to Meldy's curious question. "It's been about three and a half months now. I really wanna catch up with him. Just let him know I said hey."

"We will," Ultear smiled one more time at the redhead before turning around. "Well, I think we better go now. Come on, Meldy. Goodbye, Erza."

"I'm coming, Ultear. Bye bye, Erza!" Meldy waved before turning around.

"Goodbye!"

As they left, a frown replaced Erza's kind smile. Despite what Ultear and Meldy said, she was still worried about Jellal. He could be anywhere and in trouble for all they know. She knew he could handle himself and he knows what's reckless and what's not, but she still couldn't help, but worry.

As Erza walked back in the guild hall, she noticed Gray and Juvia sitting _awfully_ close to one another. She giggled and shook her head. "Those two…" She sighed as she ordered her lunch from Mira.

"How are you feeling, Juvia?" Gray asked as he observed her wounds that were covered in bandages.

"For the last time, Gray, I'm fine!" Juvia giggled and blushed at his concern. "I'm just a little sore. Wendy healed most of my wounds."

"I'm sorry for bugging you," Gray sighed as he picked at his lunch that consisted of a hamburger and mashed potatoes. "I was just worried that's all. You looked pretty bad lying on the battlefield like that."

Juvia's blush deepened. "It's fine. You can never bug me, Gray. I'm rather touched by your concern. I knew you'd come and save me so I wasn't worried too badly."

Gray turned to her and smiled, "I'm just glad you're not severely hurt, or worse, dead. I'm glad I was able to get to you in time." It was Gray's turn to blush…and at his own words too.

There was a moment of silence as the two ate their food silently.

"Thank you," Juvia spoke again after swallowing a bite of mashed potatoes.

"You're welcome."  
"No, I didn't mean for saving me…though I am grateful."

Gray glanced back up at her.

"I meant Lucy. To be honest, I didn't think we'd be able to make it in time, but you were there. You gave me hope when I was losing it and you never gave up. You believed we'd be able to save her no matter what. Thank you for giving me faith again."

"Juvia…"

"Alright, my children!" Everyone in the guild silenced their conversations with one another and turned to Master Makarov as he stood up on the bar so everyone could see him. He cleared his throat before speaking again, "it's time we talk about the next phase in this war…and this phase will be the last."

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 **I'm sorry it's short. Like I said before, I had writer's block. And again, I'm really sorry this took so long to update. I hope you all forgive me!**

 **-zEllie**


	30. Chapter 30

**It's getting serious now…**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 30)

Lucy had just gotten finished explaining Ivan's plan to everyone and she listened as Erza explained her reasoning behind why she was in the king's bedroom when he was killed. Apparently, it was because she wanted to check out Ivan's résumé. She wanted to know how exactly he had gotten the job. Maybe he had lied to get his position. Lucy was impressed; she would've never thought about that… and she never suspected Erza of being a spy either.

Now that Ivan's plan had been revealed, it was Makarov's turn to explain. Lucy had no idea what he meant by "returning the favor" and she deserved to know. However, it seemed everyone else in the guild knew except for Levy, her mother, and she. It must've been a "Fairy Tail members only" kinda thing…and if Lucy thinks about it that way, she shouldn't know this because she's not a Fairy Tail member.

Natsu, sitting next to her, seemed to notice her sudden distraught and took her hand in his. When Lucy looked up at him, he smiled and whispered, "some day, Luce…some day."

Lucy wanted to believe him…

"Like most of you know," Makarov said, "a long time ago, Ivan had brought great danger and harm upon his guild mates and was therefore kicked out of the guild."

Lucy's eyes widened, " _He was apart of the guild?! And he was kicked out?!_ "

"I'm not going to get into what had happened," He continued, "Ivan left with a raging fist. The last words he said to me were that he was going to destroy Fairy Tail no matter what it takes. He's attacked us in the shadows only a few times, but never this up front, especially along with the royal family."

Natsu squeezed Lucy's hand and she immediately returned the affection without hesitation.

"He believes that it was unfair and now he's trying to 'return the favor'. We kicked him out of the guild, and now he's trying to kick us out of the alliance."

Lucy unconsciously nodded understandably. Now it made sense.

"This has gone on for too long," Makarov said seriously. "We have to put an end to Raven Tail and stop this war," He was on standing on the bar now, raising his glass of beer in the air. "Who's with me?!"

And everyone, including Lucy, raised their hands in the air and shouted in unison, "Aye Sir!"

Lucy couldn't help but laugh. She felt like a member in that small, little moment.

Natsu squeezed her hand again, smiling. He liked the bright smile on her face and the laugh coming out of her mouth that was music to his ears. It felt good to see her like this.

"This is what we're going to do!" Makarov shouted after the commotion toned down a bit. "We're taking this war straight to Raven Tail and we're giving it everything we got! No holding back! Tomorrow morning we're meeting them on Magnolia Plains, a small prairie south of here! Get good sleep my children! And save your Magic Energy!"

"Aye Sir!" Everyone shouted again.

Lucy was walking back up to her room in the guild hall with Natsu trailing behind. He was smiling brightly as his girl hummed happily to herself. After everything that has happened, with her father's death, the wedding, and the war, seeing her smile like that lit up his world.

Natsu backtracked. His girl?...He's never called her that before…he likes the sound it. His girl. _Natsu's_ girl.

Natsu smiled wider at his own thoughts before he was pulled out of them.

"Excuse me?"

Natsu and Lucy turned around to be face to face with the queen.

"Hi Mom!" Lucy smiled.  
"Yo Layla!" Natsu mirrored Lucy's smile.

"Hello you two. I don't really want to bother you, but I could borrow Mr. Dragneel for a moment?"

Lucy's smile faded from her face as she raised an eyebrow. Uh oh. Maybe her mother changed her mind about her dating him. What else could it possibly be? She was a little worried.

"Uh, okay."

Natsu turned to her with questionable look at if saying, "are you sure you're okay with this?"

Lucy nodded as if answering his question. "I'll be in my room, Natsu."

"Okay, I'll meet you there, Luce."

Natsu turned to Layla and followed her down the hall into the library where they stopped.

The widowed queen sighed and kept her back facing him.

"What's up?" Natsu asked, casually putting his hands on the back of his head. He was oblivious to the blonde's distraught.

"I know I don't need to ask this. I know you'll do it without me even saying a word, but as a mother, I need to hear the words come out of your mouth," she then faced Natsu, looking him in the eyes.

Natsu smelled salt and realized that there was a bit of tears in the corners of the woman's eyes. He raised a worried eyebrow, took his hands off his head, and took a step toward her, "Layla?" What was wrong?

"I'm not going to Magnolia Plains tomorrow; I'm staying here. I have retired from being a mage and I don't have the strength to fight. However, I have no doubt that Lucy is going."

Natsu blinked, figuring out where this was headed.

"I need you to promise me," the queen said, gripping the dragon slayer's shoulders. "Promise me that you'll protect my daughter! No matter what! Please! She means the world to me and after losing my husband…I-I..I don't want to think about it! Just please bring her back safe and sound-"

"Hey," Natsu smiled softly at her, and now, it was his turn to grip her shoulders. "You don't have to worry a thing about Lucy. She's going to be just fine. She means the world to me too and I'd rather take a dagger to the heart for her then watch her die." Layla wiped at her eyes and smiled. The next words made her heart swell in joy and relief. If she didn't believe and trust him now, then she definitely did after these words: "I swear on my life, I will protect Lucy and bring her back to you safely. That's a promise from a Fairy Tail wizard!" He then gave her the biggest smile she had ever seen.

"Thank you!" Layla replied, "thank you so much."

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Lucy glanced at the clock on the wall again for the twenty-thousandth time. Where was Natsu? What were he and her mother talking about? She was _really_ worried.

"Relax, Lucy," Happy said. "I'm sure Natsu's okay. It's just a simple talk with your mom, what's the big deal?" The blue cat had flown in her window, demanding to know whether or not she and Natsu got together. Apparently, Levy or someone else who noticed, leaked it out that they had gotten together and Happy heard it through the grapevine. He had also declared that he saw the two holding hands earlier.

So Lucy explained that it was true and told him how it happened. He was so happy for them that he bawled and she had to calm him down.

By the time that was over with, it had been ten minutes. And she had glanced at the clock a million times within one minute.

"I know. It's not like he's in trouble or anything. I'm just worried about what they're talking about." Lucy began to sweat at all the possibilities. " _Oh gosh…please don't tell me that she's doing some kind of 'you have to pass this test to date my daughter' thing…now I'm_ really _worried!_ "

At that moment, the window opened, revealing her favorite dragon slayer.

"Natsu! There you are!"

She pulled him into her before he was even half way through the window.

"Woah! Lucy!" He had a full face view of her collarbone, not that he was complaining, and practically fell into the room. He held onto her waist for stability.

He smirked as he felt her fingers on the little hairs on the back of this neck and her cheek nuzzling against his scalp. "If I knew you'd miss me this much after ten minutes, I would've gotten here a lot faster."

"Are you staying you _didn't_ miss me?"

"No, I'm not saying that. I'm just messing with you."

Lucy giggled, "You mess with me all the time."

Natsu smirked again, "I know."

"I FEEL THIRD WHEELED!"

Natsu opened his eyes and sat up, "Oh, Happy!" He smiled brightly, "I didn't notice you were in here!"

Happy's jaw dropped, "Now I _really_ feel third wheeled!"  
"Well, next time, just say something to get his attention!" Lucy laughed, "And we'd never leave you out Happy! You mean a lot to us!"

"Yeah! She's right!"  
Happy pouted, "You two are just saying that to make me feel better!"

"No, we're not! It's the truth," Lucy smiled and pat the blue cat's head. "There wouldn't be a Team Natsu without you, Happy."

Happy begun to tear up after Natsu nodded in agreement. "Really? Do you guys mean it?"

"Of course!" They exclaimed in unison.

Happy flew into the two, hugging them tightly. "You guys are the best!"

"We love you too, Happy!"

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*BEEP BEEP BEEP* (worst noise ever. I hate it with my life .)

Natsu groaned as Happy rolled over and buried his face in the pillow, trying to block out the noise. Lucy reached over to turn the alarm clock off before rubbing her eyes and turning around in her position to face Natsu. It was kinda hard doing so, he had his arms around her and he wasn't letting go.

"Hey," Lucy whispered. "Natsu…wake up."

Natsu groaned again in response and tightened his grip around her.

She rolled her eyes before repeatedly poking at his cheek to disturb him.

Natsu attempted to bite her finger, but of course, missed on purpose. Lucy pulled back with the giggle as he smirked with his eyes still closed.

"Come on, Natsu, we gotta get ready and go downstairs. Master says we're leaving at eight o'clock, sharp."

"That's too early," he muttered.

"It's not that early, Natsu."

Another groan came from his throat, "five more minutes."

Lucy smiled before leaning forward to nibble on the dragon slayer's lip, "I'm gonna kiss you awake if that's what it takes."

"I can live with that," he replied, kissing her back, "in fact, I'd love to be woken up like this everyday."

Lucy giggled.

"Ew," came a small voice from above them, "you guys are so disgusting…I'm trying to sleep here."

Lucy pulled back and smiled, scratching Happy behind the ears. "You have to wake up too, Happy."

"But I don't wanna…"

"Come on, you two!" Lucy said. Although she still had a playful smile on her face, she was serious this time. She hopped out of the bed, pulling the covers with her.

Natsu groaned, both from the covers pulled off him and his favorite girl leaving his arms. "Luuuucy…"

"Come on, Natsu," He shivered when she whispered next to his ear on the other side of the bed. Her lips were against his cheek as she spoke, causing his cheek to vibrate. "You really don't want to be left behind do you? Who's gonna beat Ivan? And who's gonna protect me?"

Before Natsu could say, "good point", he felt something wet and slimy on his cheek. He immediately shot up in a sitting position in disgust, "Gah!"  
Lucy laughed at the mortified expression on his face before patting his shoulder and walking toward the bathroom.

"Really, Lucy?" He said as he grabbed a pillow behind him and rubbed it against his cheek where she licked him. The pillow happened to be the one Happy was on, causing him to tumble to the floor with an "ow".

She laughed again, "I love you!" She shut the bathroom door and turned the shower water on.

"Yeah, yeah…I love you too…you weirdo." He smiled and shook his head before turning to Happy who was rubbing his head, "Happy, I'm in love with a weirdo. I need help."

"I don't have help to give…"

"I take back my confession just because you said that, Natsu!" Lucy shouted through the door.

"What?!" Natsu exclaimed, his eyes widening in horror. "You can't do that!"  
"I can too! And I just did!"

"No! Lushy!" Natsu hopped up, running into the bathroom without thinking. There was a feminine scream before Natsu flew out the door and hit the floor with a red handprint on his cheek.

"NOW I REALLY TAKE BACK MY CONFESSION, YOU PERV!"

"I'm sorry!"

Happy could only laugh quite loudly at the amusing couple before him. These two were just too perfect for one another.

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 **The end of this chapter is amusing if you ask me! XD**

 **-zEllie**


	31. Chapter 31

**I'm really excited to write this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 31)

Lucy let out a loud sigh, "Man, we've been traveling for over an hour and a half now. If I knew we'd be going this far out, I would've brought a book to read."

"Yeah," Wendy agreed, "you'd think Magnolia Plains would be closer to Magnolia, but it's pretty far away."

"The farther away from the city, the better," Erza said, "people could wander out to find out what's going on and get hurt. When we're this far out in the plains, they won't hear the battle."

"That's true," Gray agreed, leaning against the back of his seat.

It had taken a few minutes to decide their mode of transportation. Most people suggested they'd rent about a dozen Magic Mobiles to get them there. They wouldn't be able to take the train since there was none to take them to the prairie. Two people suggested they should walk *cough* Natsu and Gajeel *cough*, but in the end, Magic Mobiles won. It would be easier that way because there was sure to be injured by the end in of this battle who wouldn't be able to walk on their own. Plus, they could carry healing supplies and other things that made help them, thanks to Porlyusica who had surprisingly, generously offered to come along.

And so, in one mobile, Lucy and a motion sick Natsu, along with Happy, Wendy, Carla, Erza, and Gray were sitting and talking about anything that came to their minds.

"Man," Gray said, "we've been in this car for so long, even _I'm_ starting to get motion sick!" He sneered at Natsu, who was leaning out the window.

"Sh…s-shut up….I-Ice P-Princess…."

Lucy giggled and pat her boyfriend's back. There wasn't much she could do for him and she wasn't going to admit it out loud, but when she watched him get sick, she felt amusement rather than pity.

"Gray," Erza said turning to him, "leave him alone."

Gray gulped and scooted away from Erza, "I-I wasn't picking a fight, Erza! I would never do that!"

Wendy giggled as Carla, who was in her arms, shook her head disapprovingly.

Lucy looked out the window over Natsu to see nothing but grass. "Guys, I think we're almost there."

"Great," Happy said, "I'm getting tired of sitting in one spot."

"I hate traveling for a long period of time doing nothing," Wendy commented.

"I hate…t-traveling…in general," Natsu replied, barfing out the window.

Lucy, again, giggled and rubbed his back.

Suddenly, the Magic Mobile stopped moving.

"Looks like you were right," Happy smiled at the blonde, "we're here."

"YAAAAASSSSSSS!" Natsu exclaimed, jumping up in joy, "WE STOPPED MOVING!"

"SIT DOWN!" Erza exclaimed.

"Yes Ma'am!" Natsu squeaked in fear and quickly sat down, almost on Lucy's lap. He was extremely close to her, practically pressed up against her, but she wasn't complaining. They were leg against leg and shoulder against shoulder.

"Um," Wendy timidly said, "should we get out or wait for someone to come get us?"

"You guys wait here, I'll go check," Erza said before taking her leave out the door.  
Gray stuck up a conversation with Natsu and Wendy, and Lucy tried to tune in, but she was too distracted. She figured she'd be used to the heat radiating off of Natsu by now; she's been this close to him before. His heat was burning her skin where they were touching and she loved every second of it. She was pretty cold sitting in the car anyway. The window was rolled down causing the wind to fly past her. Natsu's body heat was a nice change.

She wanted to kiss him senseless and hug him forever because that's how good the heat felt…

"Helloooo? Luuucy?"

"Huh?" Lucy blinked as Natsu waved in front of her face.

"You alright?" Gray asked, "you looked like you were dozing off there."

"Are you not feeling well?" Wendy asked, "I can heal you."

"Nonsense, Child!" Carla exclaimed, "you need as much magic energy as you can gather for this battle."

"I'm sorry, Carla, but Lucy-"

"I'm fine," Lucy interrupted, "I'm just tired. That's all."

"Yeah," Gray agreed, "waking up early is horrible…"

"Tell me about it," Happy said.

The doors suddenly opened to reveal Erza. "Come on," she said, "we're all out here."

Once they exited the small mobile, Lucy let out a sigh of relief as Natsu fell forward onto the grass to kiss it. "Oh! Solid ground!"

Lucy laughed and rolled her eyes before turning to follow Gray and Wendy and leave him there.

Everyone was stretching their legs and talking to one another. She looked over to see Makarov sending Jet to scout out the prairie for any sign of Raven Tail. He zoomed off immediately.

Lucy looked around and took a few steps away from the talkative group. All she could see are hills and grass. If she really squinted toward the distance, she could see a forest.

Wow, Magnolia Plains was huge…

It's absolutely perfect for a battlefield…

Suddenly, the wind whipped by her again, causing her to shiver rather roughly and rub at her arms. It wasn't necessarily cold out, but the wind was rather chilly. Why again is she wearing light, tight clothing? Oh yeah, because that's all she has with her.

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around her, rubbing her arms for her, causing her to drop her hands. She didn't have to guess who it was. The heat gave it away and even if he didn't have naturally high body heat, she would know anyway.

"Cold?" Natsu's voice was against her ear.

Lucy spun around in her spot to hug him tightly. His heat engulfed her just like their hug and she sighed. "Very," she replied as she buried her face in his scarf and hummed in delight. "Thanks."

"Anytime," he nuzzled his cheek against her blonde, soft hair.

"So the rumors _are_ true," Gray appeared next to them, "you two _are_ together. I thought it'd never happen."

Natsu growled, "Shut up, Frostbite!"

"You know, Gray," Lucy smirked at him, lifting her face just far enough away from Natsu's scarf to see him. She wanted to see Gray's reaction and she didn't want to leave his warmth. "A little bird told me that you and Juvia kissed. I thought that'd never happen."

Gray's face exploded in a million shades of red and Natsu laughed, causing his chest to vibrate against her.

"You told her, Flame Brain?!"

"Whoever said it was me, Snowman?!"

"Why you little….you wanna go, Magma Breath?!"

"Nah, not right now," Natsu hugged Lucy tighter and pressed his face into her hair, breathing in her scent. "I'm a little busy at the moment."

Lucy smirked at Gray one more time before burying her face back in Natsu's scarf. It warmed her cold nose.

Gray was trying to think of a comeback, but eventually gave up. Before he could walk away and leave the couple alone, Juvia bounced up to them.

"I heard my name," she declared. "Were you three talking about me? Should my ears be burning?"

Lucy spoke again, but this time she didn't bother to lift her face again. "Gray was going on and on about how pretty you are, Juvia."  
Juvia went red and turned to look at Gray as Natsu, again, was laughing. "R-really?!"

"N-no, I wasn't!"

Juvia's face instantly dropped, "so you don't think I'm pretty?"  
"I-I never said that!"

"Uh oh," Natsu smirked. "Gray, you should kiss Juvia as an apology."

Lucy shot her head up. There was no way she was missing this.

"N-no!" He was as red as Erza's hair.

"So you don't want to kiss me either?" Juvia looked down.

"I didn't say that!"

She looked back up again with widened eyes with hope, "So you _do_ want to kiss me?!"

"I never said that either!...Oh for the love of Mavis!" Gray grabbed Juvia by the shoulders and smacked his lips against hers.  
Lucy squealed rather loudly, drawing a lot of attention to them. Their guild mates gasped at the scene before cheering. Even though they've seen the couple kiss before, they knew it wasn't a confession.

"Let's get out of here," Natsu said, taking Lucy's hand and pulling her away from the new couple who were now making out as their guild mates who were swarming around them. Lucy could hear Mira going nuts, shouting, "I'M BEEN SHIPING YOU TWO FOR _YEARS_ NOW!" She laughed at that.

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Lucy opened her eyes to find herself staring at the sky. She felt Natsu's arm, that was around her waist, tighten as she lifted her head from his shoulder and blink a few times.

There was a pair of lips on her cheek, "sleep well, Beautiful?"

She rubbed her eyes, "I fell asleep on you? I'm sorry."

"I don't mind," he smiled at her before sitting up, reaching over, and grabbing a brown paper bag. "Here."

She sat up and took it. Once she opened it up, her mouth watered. She never really liked sandwiches, but she didn't know how hungry she was. "Thanks," She pulled out an apple and bit into it. "I'm surprised you didn't eat my lunch for me. You know, with your big appetite?"

"I'll admit I was tempted," he replied, "but I'm not gonna let you starve. Why would I do that?"

She smiled and said again, "thanks."

As Lucy hungrily ate her lunch, Natsu leaned forward to snuggle into her shoulder every once in a while, he'd plant a kiss on the skin of her neck.

Natsu and Lucy were currently lying on a hill looking over the grass swaying with the wind. They weren't far from the group; they were only at the bottom, out of their sight.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Um…maybe thirty minutes."

Lucy blinked in confusion before taking another bite out of her apple. "I'm a little worried."

Natsu raised his head from her shoulder, "what? What's wrong?"

"Shouldn't Raven Tail be here by now? What if they're planning a surprise attack on us?"

"Don't worry about it. I have ears like a dragon, I would be able to hear them moving around us if that was the case."

"…I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always?"

Lucy turned to glare at him, but she was smiling, "No, of course not, dummy!"

Natsu smiled and glared back, "you're mean, Princess."

"Idiot."

"Weirdo."

"Pinky."

"Blondie."

"Flame Brain."

"Oh? So you're taking Gray's nicknames for me? Copycat," he chuckled.

"What else am I supposed to use? I can't think up anything else."

"That's not very much," Natsu smirked. "You love me too much to insult me," he grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand to him to take a bite out of her apple.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, pulling her hand back, but then she gasped, "I got it! A pig!"

Natsu's jaw dropped, "a pig?! I'm not a pig!"

"Well, you eat like one!"

"I'm a dragon not a pig!"

"You still eat like one!"

He huffed, "I may eat a lot, but that doesn't mean I'm a pig!"

"Oh yes it does! You shove food down your throat and don't care about breathing! You should see yourself!"  
"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Luuuucy! You're so mean! You're lucky I love you!"

And with that, before Lucy had the chance to catch her breath from laughing, he pulled her toward him, smashing their lips together.

"I love you too," she muttered against him.

"I know."

"Natsu! Lucy! Where are you?!"

The panicked shout caused the two to pull apart in surprise. Natsu stood up before offering Lucy his hand. She took it and he pulled her up before the two took off running. The forgotten lunch bags sat on top of the hill and blew away with the wind.

Natsu and Lucy found Levy, who was the one who shouted, and stopped in front of her.

"There you are!" Levy exclaimed; relief lit up in her eyes.

Natsu glanced at Gajeel, who was standing protectively close to Levy, he raised an eyebrow before their eyes met and they seemed to silently communicate. Natsu whipped his head to the side, hearing something in the distance rather close to them. He in turn, copied Gajeel by standing close to Lucy in a protective manner.

"What's wrong, Levy?" Lucy asked, worriedly.

Levy looked into her friend's eyes and said two words that made the blonde's heart speed up in fear:

"They're here."

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 **I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-zEllie**


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 32)

"What's wrong, Levy?" Lucy asked, worriedly.

Levy looked into her friend's eyes and said two words that made the blonde's heart speed up in fear:

"They're here."

Her eyes immediately widened and within that moment she began to have a panic attack. She seemed all cool about this at first, but Lucy never really thought about it. She was going into the final battle, which meant it would be the bloodiest too. Not only has she never been in a battle, especially one like this, but there was going to be a _lot_ of Raven Tail members fighting them. Who knows what'll happen: she could die, Levy could die, her friends in Fairy Tail could die…and she didn't want to think about it, but Natsu could die as well.

Lucy's heart beat sped up and she began breathing shallow and quickly. She could feel her knees buckle, her tears coming to her eyes, and sweat starting to form at her eyebrows.

Levy and Gajeel were oblivious. They were turning every which way, listening to the noise from Raven Tail that was getting louder and louder as they got closer.

Natsu, however, noticed immediately.

"Lucy," He said, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to him.

She wasn't looking him in the eyes and her normal chocolate colored pupils were widened in fear and he could smell salt, which meant she was about to start crying. He hated seeing her like this.

"Lucy! Calm Down!" Natsu smashed her against his chest in a tight hug, but she was shaking so much that she couldn't hug back. It was almost like she couldn't see him…all she could see was her fear. "Lucy, calm down," he repeated and pulled back a bit. "Look at me."

She didn't move. She kept on staring forward, almost _through_ him…

"Lucy, look at me!" He tilted her chin up and she finally found his eyes. They didn't have that lost look in them once onyx met chocolate…and Natsu was beyond relieved that she wasn't staring at her fear anymore…

But she was still scared as tears slid down, "N-Natsu…"

"Shhh…" He set his forehead on hers. "It's okay. Everything is gonna be okay, Lucy. Take a deep breath; calm down."

Lucy obeyed, closing her eyes and taking in a shaky breath before letting it out. She continued that process until her heart rate returned to this normal beat and her breath came in and out smoothly. "Natsu, I'm scared."

Her words were barely audible to herself, but Natsu heard it loud and clear, "I know. I am too. I don't want to lose you and I'm scared to. Lucy, I'll bet you that every single one of us here is scared. We don't want to lose one another…but Lucy, we're all in this together. You don't have to go through suffering on your own anymore. We're not only fighting for your freedom, but for Fairy Tail's as well. It's like Gramps said, it doesn't matter if you have our mark or not. You're one of us now and we protect family."

Lucy opened her eyes to stare at his onyx ones again.

"Lucy, I swear I'm gonna protect you. Just stay close to me and I won't let you out of my sight," He brushed her tears away and his eyes were so sincere that she felt herself falling for him all over again.

"I love you, Natsu."

"I love you too, Lucy."

She buried herself in his scarf for the second time that day and wound her arms around him tightly. She felt that overwhelming safety flood her liked she felt every time she was hugging him. She felt like nothing could ever touch her.

"I'm gonna go find a sniping spot!" Bisca suddenly yelled.

"Alzack, go with her!" Makarov shouted.

"Aye sir!" Alzack replied.

"Lucy! Natsu!" Happy flew over to them. "Everyone's going to the front lines. Let's go."  
The two tightened their hug. It was so tight, they were both afraid that if they let go, they'd slip away. It was like the world was ending…which for them, it was just about right.

"Come on, let's go!" Happy hurried them. He didn't want to break them apart. He could tell they both were afraid to lose the other, but there was no other choice. Raven Tail was in their sight and they didn't have time.

They didn't move, but only for a moment before breaking apart. They're hands were locked together in an instant and neither wanted to let go.

"You okay now?" Natsu asked, looking for any sign of her panic attack, but it was all gone.

Lucy nodded and then turned to Happy, "where do we go?"

"Follow me," Happy said before flying off with the two closely behind. He found an empty spot next to Macao on one side, and Elfman on the other.

Lucy's breath caught and her eyes widened when she saw Raven Tail.

They were marching up to them like an army and dang! There was a _whole_ lot more of them than she thought there was. She began to panic again, but calmed down when she listened to Natsu's voice echo through her head, repeating his previous words.

In front of the ravens, was Ivan Dreyar. He was dressed in thick, gold armor with a black cape and blue frilly trim on his back. It looked a lot like Laxus' coat and Lucy bit her lip when she remembered that they were father and son.

And let's not forget that he and Makarov were father and son as well…

Lucy shivered when Ivan's gaze fell upon her and a wicked smile appeared on his ugly face, causing her to squeeze Natsu's hand in support. He obliged by squeezing back and Lucy could hear him quietly growl at the man.

Ivan looked from Natsu, to Lucy, to their entwined fingers, then back up at each of them again before smirking and turning to face Makarov.

Raven Tail stopped across from them a couple of hill lengths away and in the dead silence, Ivan spoke: "Hello Father. It's been a long time."

"Not only have you caused trouble for my guild, but the royal family as well," Makarov replied, all kindness aside. "You infiltrated them, brainwashed the king and queen, manipulated Lucy, and killed the king. This is too unforgiveable. This ends here and now."

Ivan chuckled, "you'd really harm your own son?"

Before Makarov had the chance to reply, Laxus spoke first, "that's funny coming from you."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. Did Ivan abuse Laxus when he was little? It seemed like it.

Natsu seemed to read her mind and whispered, "he was never abused. He was just never treated right. When Laxus got older and stronger, he and his dad got into lots of fistfights before Ivan was kicked out of Fairy Tail."

"Oh."

Lucy turned her attention back to the conversation between grandfather, father, and son and realized that they were ready to go at each other's throats, which meant the battle was about to start. She pulled out a key to save time in advance. With only a glance to see what it was, she held it firmly in her hands so she wouldn't accidently drop it.

"Last guild standing wins," Ivan smirked before turning to give orders to his guild.

"Fight hard!" Makarov announced to them, "don't hold back your magic power! Remember, each and every one of us is here for each other! Be proud that you're a member of Fairy Tail!"

They cheered and with a battle cry, charged toward the offending guild.

That was the moment Natsu and Lucy let go of each other's hands…

When Lucy was close enough, she pointed the key out in front of her and swung it down, "Open: Gate of the Lion: Loke!"

Lucy didn't have to say anything when Loke appeared; she had informed all her spirits about the battle so they were all prepared for this moment.

She didn't really have to worry about much, only her magic energy which seemed to run out faster with the more spirits she summons. There weren't many ravens trying to bite her, probably because they were going after only Fairy Tail wizards.

Or maybe…Ivan wanted to deal with her himself…

That thought scared her and she turned around to glance at Natsu for support. She always admired how great of a fighter he is and seeing him in action had always brought her hopes up.

Except there was one problem: Natsu wasn't anywhere near her.

She panicked and shouted, "Natsu?...Natsu?!" Lucy dodged someone's attack and struck them with her whip. "Natsu?!"

"Lucy!"

She turned to her left where his voice sounded before she was suddenly lifted off her feet. She shrieked before looking up to see Happy smiling at her, which she mirrored.

"You scared me," Lucy said, "give me a warning next time."

"Aye Sir!"

When she was set back down, she was right next to Natsu. The two shared a glance before they spun around and pressed their backs to one another, eyeing the enemy in front of them. Natsu had his fists on fire while Lucy was holding Scorpio's key in one hand and her whip in the other.

"You took your eyes off me," Lucy stated.

"I know; I'm sorry. I get a little distracted in fights."

Lucy giggled, "I know."

"That was totally my bad. Try and stay close and I'll try to keep my eyes on you again."

"It'll be easy to lose one another in a battle like this."

Natsu stayed silent which led Lucy to believe that she was right…and suddenly she got an idea that'll be fun, and keep them together.

"Hey Natsu, how many ravens have you taken down?" She smirked.

"Uh…fourteen, I think."

"I've got twelve. If I bring it up a level, I'll probably take down more than you."

She felt Natsu's back straighten at the challenge and she knew she had him hook, line, and sinker.

"Oh yeah?" He smirked back, "I don't think you can keep up with me."

"So you're turning it down? You surprise me, Natsu, I know that you love challenges. You struck me as the type of guy to rush right into them with no hesitation. I'm surprised you're turning it down."

"Oh I'm not turning it down! You're on, Luce!"

"Bring it!"

Lucy's plan had worked; they were keeping tabs on each other know and fighting harder than ever. Five minutes later, Natsu shouts to her, "I've got eighteen!"

"Ha! Twenty!"

"What?! How?!"

"What's wrong? You scared you'll be shown up by your girlfriend, Dragneel?"

"In your dreams, Heartfilia!"

"Well, my dreams are coming true then!"

"Yeah, right!"

Twenty minutes later and they're still going at it, but it wasn't long until a weird, twisted laugh echoed into Lucy's ears. She confusedly spun around in circles, looking through her friends and enemies fighting until she found the person.

Demented was the first word that popped into Lucy's head, but there were other words to describe her. Lucy thought that maybe the girl was dropped on her head as a baby, but if she spoke that out loud, she's insult the girl.

Strangely enough, her emblem was red and on the side of her breast causing Lucy to blink disturbingly. She's a raven.

"Who are you?"

The girl's laugh sounded into Lucy's ears again. "Your demise, Blondie. They call me Flare Corona and this will be your graveyard."

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 **I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-zEllie**


	33. Chapter 33

**I'm really sorry it's been a while. My family has been passing a sickness back and forth for the past two weeks so we've been sitting around watching TV shows. Plus, you all know I'm absolutely horrible writing fight scenes. That is my weakness in writing…so I've kinda been putting this off.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 33)

"Who are you?"

The girl's laugh sounded into Lucy's ears again. "Your demise, Blondie. They call me Flare Corona and this will be your graveyard."

It took a few moments before her words sunk in and Lucy realized she was about to get into a big fight. This girl must be pretty confident and cocky to introduce herself in the heat of a battle so she's probably going to be tough. Lucy wasn't afraid though; Flare has nothing on her!

Feeling a stare on her back, Lucy turned to meet Natsu's worried eyes who figured out what was going on with ease. With a confident, reassuring smile, she nodded to him to let him know she's got this.

Natsu knew he couldn't always protect Lucy…even though he'd never admit it out loud…As much as he wants to put her behind him and protect her from anything that threatens, he knew Lucy has to fight her own battles. It's the only way she'd be able to get stronger and experienced. Lucy has to win her own battles…as well as lose them…He didn't have to worry about her losing this battle though. He could tell Flare's magic energy was about the level of Lucy's. They'd be neck-and-neck, but Natsu had faith Lucy can defeat her.

He'll just keep an eye on her…

So with a mirroring smile, Natsu shouted, "she's worth ten points!"

"Make it twenty!" Lucy knew better than to take that. By the time she's done with Flare, Natsu will have over fifty points.

"Deal! Good luck, Lucy!" He turned his back and was gone.

Lucy turned back to Flare who was patiently waiting. If she was waiting, then that means she's even cockier than the blonde had thought.

She grabbed the key she knew would be most helpful in this situation before Flare charged:

"Hair Shower: Wolf Fang!"

Her hair formed a giant wolf that came at her. How she could do that, Lucy had no earthly clue…nor did it matter.

"Open: Gate of the Giant Crab: Cancer!"

Suddenly, her hair was in shreds.

Lucy felt pretty confident in herself. Even if this weirdo could make her hair into animals or grow it back by will, she was sure she could do this.

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"Haaaah!" Erza jumped and swung her sword, slashing a raven at the chest, causing a scream to follow, before the redhead kicked them back. The raven knocked into Gray who finished the job easily.

"Reequip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!" She turned around, "Circle Swords! Hah!" In one swipe, ten ravens were down.

Erza turned to observe her comrades. They had wounds – they all did – but they seemed to be fighting with ease. It seemed the battle was theirs…but then again, there was a _lot_ of Raven Tail Wizards…

She heard someone approach her with a chuckle and she quickly equipped into lighter armor and dodged before taking the enemy out.

The raven she knocked out had a buddy though and she didn't see it coming until the very last second, but by then it was too late. She saw a dagger and waited for the impact…even if she was stabbed, she wasn't giving up. She'd grin and bare it.

However, the impact never came and she raised an eyebrow before turning around completely…and gasping.

"You alright?"

"Jellal?"

Out of all the times she'd expect him to show up, now was not one of them…Well, actually, yes, she expected him to show up here, but she was so focused fighting, she forgot about it.

A few feet away, fighting with their magic, was Ultear and Meldy.

"Where have you been all this time?" She asked him.

"I really don't have time to explain," The blue haired man said. He turned around and punched a raven, Erza following in suit. The two were back-to-back, fighting.

"It's good to see you," Erza said. "I missed you," she blushed at her own words that accidentally left her mouth. She didn't mean to say that, but it wasn't a lie.

"…I missed you too, Erza."

"Thanks for the help even though you know well that I can take care of myself. And you're right, there's no time to explain, but can you at least tell me where you've been? Ultear and Meldy said you didn't tell them."

"I was at the Magic Council. I turned myself in."

"You what?!" The shock of his words led Erza's eyes to widen and to lose her resolve. "Jellal-"

"Watch out!" He pulled her out of the way before punching the offender. "Be more careful!"

Erza shook her head to clear it. Why Jellal turned himself into the Magic Council is beyond her and she'd just have to find out the answers later. Right now, she needed to focus.

"You're right! Let's do this!"

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"Hey Natsu!" Happy called, "where did Lucy go?!"

"Don't worry about her, Happy!" Natsu exclaimed, punching someone with a stupid grin on their face…whatever that was about?... "She's fine!"

"What?! You're not worried?!"

Oh, he was worried all right! He wanted to go and take care of the Flare girl all by himself, but again, Lucy had to win and lose her own fights. Natsu wasn't going to take that freedom away from her. However, that didn't stop the fear. He was so worried that something terrible was going to happen. He had faith she'd win…but something kept tugging on his heart, trying to tell him that something horrible is going to happen…

"Natsu?" Happy noticed his best friend's sudden pause in fighting and just stood there. Plus, he didn't answer his question.

Natsu looked around, but Lucy was nowhere near him. Either he strayed away, so she did.

"Happy," Natsu turned to him, "pick me up. Take me to Lucy."

"Aye sir!" Happy smiled, picking the dragon slayer up.

He wasn't going to get into Lucy's fight, but he just needed to keep _two_ eyes on her instead of _one_ now.

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"Ha….ha…" Lucy put her weight on her knees while panting hard, but she didn't take her eyes off her opponent. She was so…tired…she felt like she was about to pass out. However, she felt proud of herself because Flare was in the same condition: covered in wounds, out of breath, running low on magic energy, and tired.

"I never thought…a dimwitted blondie…like you…could do this to me," Flare panted.

In between her breaths, Lucy chuckled, "you thought…wrong then…Let's finish this!"

"I couldn't agree more!"

Lucy charged, grabbing at her whip before realizing it wasn't there. She reached for her keys instead, ignoring the fact that this could be the last spirit she would be able to summon with her magic energy low, but when she reached, Flare's hair grabbed a hold of her.

She wasn't on her feet; she was spread-eagle in the air, making Lucy feel rather vulnerable, but she tried not to panic.

Flare laughed, "what are you gonna do now, Blondie?!"  
"Tell me something!" Lucy said, ignoring her position and the raging battle around them; she had let curiosity get the best of her. "Why me? Why had you targeted me out of all of Fairy Tail? It seemed like you set out to find me."

"…That's none of your business."

Lucy bit her lip, "Um…it actually _is_ my business."

"Shut up, Blondie! Now, where was I? Oh yeah! I'm in the middle of torturing you! Hmm…How about I strip you of your clothes like I did with your redheaded friend?"

Lucy's eyes widened, "you were the one who tortured Erza?!" She felt her own blood start boiling in anger.

Flare didn't answer, but Lucy knew she was right. Erza said it was a female fire wizard; it _had_ to be her.

"Oh wait! I know!" Flare exclaimed, ripping Lucy out of her thoughts, "before I strip you, how about, since you're guildless, I'll mark you with the Raven Tail emblem! You'll be a Raven Tail wizard!"

"No!" Lucy exclaimed. That was one of the last things she wanted. "No, please!"

"Where do you want it?" Flare observed her, ignoring her cries. She took some hair and made it into the Raven Tail emblem, hovering it over Lucy's body, wondering where to put it.

" _Anywhere but my right hand…anywhere but my right hand…anywhere but my right hand…_ "

"How about your hand?...Your _right_ hand! I see your face get worried every time my hair passes over it!"

"No! Please, anywhere but there! You can put it on my face if you want! Just anywhere but there!"

Ignoring her again, Flare began to move the Raven Tail emblem closer to her right hand. Lucy tried to tug her hand back, but Flare's hair had just too of a strong grip.

"Lucy!"

Suddenly, Lucy found herself hitting the ground and he looked up to see who had cut the hair and saved her.

"H-Happy! Thank you!"

"No problem! Now finish it!"

"Right! Open: Gate of the Twins: Gemini!"

Gemini appeared and Lucy wasted no time while Flare recovered from Happy's attack.

"We're doing the big one!" Lucy had something special planned for this battle and now was the perfect time to show it. However, she's never cast this spell before so it'll be new for her.

"We haven't practiced enough yet!" Gemi yelled over the noise.

"And you haven't either!" Mini replied.

"We'll just have to try! Transform into me!"

"You got it!"

Gemini was quickly in Lucy's form and the two pressed their hands together to start the spell:

"Oh stars far and wide that embody the heavens…I implore you, Tetrabiblos….By thy radiance, reveal thy form to me, Eternal Ruler of the stars above. Now that the aspect is complete, I ask that you lend your power to me; let your unstrained rage flow! Open: the raging tumultuous gate!...With all eighty-eight heavenly bodies…shining! Urano Metria!"

All Lucy could see is colorful stars, all she could hear was a shimmering noise, all she could feel was magic energy.

And all that magic energy she felt, suddenly left and she's never felt weaker. Gemini vanished, thanks to the magic energy disappearing, and she sunk to her knees as her vision cleared.

Flare stood there, covered in wounds with a shocked expression on her face. Then she toppled over onto the ground. Was she just screaming? Why does she suddenly have a ton of wounds all over? Why is her clothes torn? All these questions led to two in Lucy's mind, " _wait…did_ I _do that to her? Did that spell work?_ "

"Way to go, Lucy!" Happy exclaimed. "That spell was _awesome!_ "

From Happy's praise and Flare's condition, it seems the spell had worked. Lucy felt pride rise in her stomach and a smile caressed her face. She just completed a powerful spell she didn't even know would work. She was proud of herself…

…except, she could barely stand now and that means she can't fight anymore alongside her friends.

"Natsu! Natsu!" Happy continued to exclaim, "did you see that?! That was awesome!"

Lucy turned her head around to look at Natsu's expression. His eyes were wide and his jaw was agape. Lucy smirked as her smile grew larger. Now she knew how to impress him!

Natsu looked at her before a smile slowly grew on his face. Before either of them could say anything, somebody else did:

"HOW DARE YOU?!"

Lucy gasped and spun around to see Flare on her feet again, looking more demented than when they fought. She wasn't knocked out?!

"I WILL NOT LOSE TO A DUMB BLONDIE LIKE YOU! DIE!"

Lucy gasped again when Flare brought out a dagger. She couldn't move, not because she was afraid, but because she was just too tired and wounded.

"Oh no…" Lucy murmured as she tried to move, but couldn't. Flare brought the dagger up and Lucy sucked in a breath.

"LUCY!"

There a flash of pink then a lot of red. It took a moment before Lucy realized what had happened…and she screamed.

"NATSU!"

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 **I love making cliffhangers…**

 **-zEllie**


	34. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 34)

Laxus only used his magic when necessary as he punched each raven, left and right. Of course, he knew that he could easily take them out with just one shock of lightning, but he wanted to save up his magic energy when he meets his father.

"Laxus."

Speak of the devil…

Laxus turned around to be face-to-face with his father. He had a wicked grin on his face and the blonde man felt his insides shiver at the sight.

"You disappoint me, Boy. I heard about the 'Battle of Fairy Tail' and yet, here you are, fighting alongside them."

"I learned my lesson unlike you," Laxus replied. "Fairy Tail has always been my family, even when I didn't accept it. I'm gonna fight for my family, even if my deadbeat dad is the enemy."

"Lucy Heartfilia and Levy McGarden aren't apart of your family."

"I may not know Lucy and Levy well enough, but I do know that they have hearts of gold like the rest of us…and I also know that they didn't deserve the hell you put them though. With or without our emblem, they're two of us."

"Well said, Laxus."

Laxus turned around at his grandfather's words. Makarov took a stand next to the blonde man with a face Laxus couldn't describe. Fighting his son is a terrible thing, especially when he knows that Makarov still cared for Ivan. He found it funny that they were having a conversation with a battle going on around them.

"They're two of us, which means you're messing with all of us," Makarov said, looking Ivan dead in the eyes. "Your crimes are unforgivable, Ivan. You know how terrifying Fairy Tail can be, and yet, you played with fire anyway. This is the end."

"You don't scare me, Old Man. I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I made Raven Tail. With my amount of members and their strength, your guild will fall."

"We'll just see about that."

When Makarov charged and Ivan put his golden helmet on, Laxus covered himself in lightning.

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"Look! Look! I did it again! I did it again!"

"You did! That's amazing! I could never do something like that! You're one of a kind!"

Asuka smiled proudly before taking her tow gun again and aiming at the target on the wall. She has hit the bull's eye so many times, Layla didn't think that anyone could beat her, besides her parents of course.

The widowed queen smiled. She loves kids these age…and she misses the way Lucy would stumble over her words with her cute, little voice and the way she would run to her when she picked a large bouquet of dandelions. Oh! How Layla misses those days.

Speaking of her daughter, Layla turned away from the child she was temporarily taking care of at the guild hall to look out the window. Even though she had gotten Natsu's word, she still worried whether or not Lucy was okay.

" _I would rather take a dagger to the heart for her than watch her die._ "

Those words were Layla's rock. She depended on him to protect her. She hadn't known Natsu for very long, but he had a knack for getting people, _strangers_ even, to trust him completely with ease. Layla could tell that he was a great person and she was happy for her daughter.

"I did it again!"

Layla turned back to Asuka. "That's great! However, it's lunchtime now. Come sit down and I'll get you something to eat."

"Okay, Mrs. Heartfilia."

Layla giggled. Bisca taught her daughter such good manners. Seeing a child be polite always made her smile…of course, anything a child this age does, makes her smile.

When the queen brought Asuka her food, she sat down next to her and found herself staring out the window again, worrying about her own daughter and the guild she loves.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Heartfilia!" Asuka seemed like she could read her mind. Layla turned to her with a surprised look.

"What do you mean, Asuka?"

"Fairy Tail is the strongest guild! Everyone is strong! My mommy and daddy are strong! Natsu is strong! Lucy is strong! Makarov is strong! You don't have to worry about anything! Mommy and Daddy say that everyone loves each other and that they'll do whatever it takes to protect one another! So no one will be hurt! Everything is going to be okay!"

The widowed queen giggled. A child was cheering her up. Although the part about no one being hurt wasn't true (they were going into a battle; of course they'll be hurt), Asuka's words brightened her spirit. "You're right! How silly of me to think the worst!"

"It's okay!" Asuka smiled and giggled as Layla mirrored it.

After a moment, the queen's smiled dipped down…She just couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible had happened…

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"NATSU!" Lucy screamed, catching him as he fell back onto her. "NATSU NO!"

Happy remained motionless as he processed what just happened.

"YOU IDIOT!" Lucy exclaimed as she laid him on his back to look at the damage.

The dagger was an inch to his heart…maybe even _in_ his heart. She couldn't tell, but it didn't matter. There was so much blood already and Lucy knew the wound would only get worse if she pulled the dagger out.

"Oh my gosh…" She whimpered as she covered her mouth and her vision blurred.

She heard Natsu cough up blood causing his body to jerk violently. Because of the jerking, the dagger moved and wounded more of his body. Lucy franticly held down his shoulders to keep the wound from getting worse.

"A-ah!" Natsu flinched, trying not to scream in pain, "G-gah! Ugh…"

Happy finally snapped out of it, "NATSU!" He flew toward him and hugged his shoulder tightly, crying his heart out.

"Oh, H-Happy," Natsu managed as he limply lifted an arm to hug him back.

"H-Happy!" Lucy shouted, "go get Wendy! Go find her! Hurry!"

Happy obeyed, flying off as fast as he could with max speed, shouting Wendy's name as he went.

Natsu weakly turned his head to face Lucy. She had her eyes squeezed shut with tears running down. She was trying her absolute best not to let out a sob, but she was certain she was going to fail.

"L-Lucy…Look at me."

Lucy opened her eyes to only see a blur. She rubbed at them before looking clearly at his face.

"P-please, s-stop crying, Lucy."

"S-save your breath," Lucy replied as more tears streamed down. She clutched at Natsu's hand. "Don't talk."

"I love you."

"S-shut up!" She shouted, "don't talk like you're about to die!"

"Luce-"

"I'm not gonna let you die, Natsu!"

"I love you so much, Luce."

Lucy found herself sobbing while hugging herself to stop the shaking. Seeing her like that broke Natsu's heart.

"You are such an idiot," Lucy sobbed. "Why did you do it?!"

"I-I wasn't going t-to s-stand there and watch a dagger go t-through you."

Speaking of Flare…

Lucy shot her head up from her position, finding a large rock or anything to throw at Flare, but when she looked up, the redhead was long gone. Lucy hadn't even noticed.

"I hated you too you know…"

Lucy looked back down at him and saw his gentle, pained smile. "W-what?"

"Y-your letter…Y-you told me that you h-had h-hated me when we first m-met…I-I did too…Y-you were such an annoying b-brat. You were so stubborn, stuck up and s-selfish…You a-acted like the w-world revolved around you," Natsu reached up to run his fingers through her golden hair. "You know, Lucy…the world _d-does_ revolve around you. M-my world does…"

Lucy, afraid his hand would fall, put her own on top of his and curled her fingers around the warmth that she noted was fading. It scared her: Natsu's fire was going out.

"I-if Gramps hadn't forced me t-to t-take you o-on that m-mission, I d-don't think I would've f-fallen in love with y-you," his voice was getting weaker as he chuckled. "F-for o-once in my l-life, I'm glad h-he t-threatened me with E-Erza…"

Lucy weakly giggled that was mixed with a sob before burring her face in his shoulder as Natsu's hand went to the back of her head. "I love you…"

"I l-love you too," Natsu responded, hugging her to him with all the strength he had left.

Lucy didn't really know how long she had her head on his shoulder, sobbing like a baby, but she didn't care and soon, her sobbing quieted.

"Stop! This battle is now over!"

Lucy shot her head up at the voice before noticing a lot of men and women in blue and white clothes. The Magic Council? How did they know about this battle?

"Ivan Dreyar, you are under the arrest of infiltrating the royal family, murdering King Jude, and going to war with a guild when you know it's against the law."

Makarov, Laxus, and Ivan stood there, broken, bleeding, and nearly out of magic energy as Lahar and Doranbolt came forward to cuff him. Ivan didn't really put up a fight since he was about to pass out. He was furious though…

"This isn't over…" He glared at his father and son as he was dragged off.

"Oh, I think it _is_ , Old Man," Laxus replied with a pant after his words.

The three were equally matched in strength, which oddly surprised Lucy. It shouldn't of because they were related, but she was glad that this was finally over.

"And all Raven Tail wizards are under arrest for aiding a criminal."

Most of Raven Tail was past out which made it easy for the Magic Council to take them into custody. Lucy was just glad that the dirty work is done.

She looked down at Natsu to see that he was unconscious.

Her heart stopped beating…

"Natsu?" When there was no reply, she shouted his name, shaking his shoulders. "Natsu! Natsu!"

"Lucy, calm down! I can heal him!"

Wendy, Happy, and Carla appeared, making Lucy smile weakly in relief.

Wendy took one look at Natsu's condition before her eyes went wide. "Oh no…" with that, she fell to her knees and began to heal him. Lucy waited somewhat impatiently, hoping a miracle would happen and he'd wake up then and there.

Suddenly, a figure appeared next to her.

It was Porlyusica. Lucy moved out of the way for her and she knelt down at opposite side of Wendy. "Such terrible wounds…we have to get him back to the guild hall as soon as possible. That's where the tools and potions for this kind of wound are."

Wendy nodded in agreement, still focused on pushing her magic into Natsu.

Happy crawled into Lucy's lap and she hugged the cat tightly to her. She was in tears again, along with Happy.

"I-is he gonna make it?" Lucy asked, wanting an honest answer.

Porlyusica turned to her with sympathetic eyes, "I honestly don't know."

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 **That last manga chapter is killing me…that last page and the last words…E.N.D and NaLu is coming! I'm gonna die! I actually cried when I read that and it was hardly nothing! Please tell me I'm not the only one who's freaking out right now?!**

 **-zEllie**


	35. Chapter 35

**I'm so sorry for the long wait! My bunnies demolished my keyboard a couple weeks ago and as a writer, that's not good. So I had to get an extended one which is really good and I'm using it now, but school started back up and I've been really busy. Also, I started an original fiction story and I focused on that for a couple of days until I realized how late this was. I'm really sorry again and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 35)

"Bang! Bang!"

Asuka was currently riding around on her horse shooting all the bad guys. They stole gold from the bank and since she was the heroine of the town, she was on their heels.

"Get back here, Bad Guys! Bang! Bang!"

Missing her shots, Asuka pouted before taking a sharp turn on her horse up the hill next to the road to get a better view. As she leveled her pistol and aimed for one of the thieves, she fired and hit him square in the shoulder.

"Yea! I got him!"

As the thief fell off his horse onto the dirty road, Asuka reared her horse to jump off the hill. Landing next to the thief on the ground, she kept going, following the two other thieves on the run. Realizing she was out of ammo, Asuka dropped her pistol and quickly drew out two from her belt. She aimed quickly and fired hitting them both in the back.

"Yes!" She shouted in glee as the fell off their horses.

As she pulled her horse to a stop and dismounted, she grabbed the bad of gold and roped the three thieves. She led them back to the sheriff who rewarded her greatly.

"Yea! I did it! I caught the thieves!"

Suddenly, Asuka found herself standing in the middle of the Fairy Tail guild hall on her stick horse and her toy gun in her hand. She smiled widely as she put the gun in her hoister and the stick horse against the wall. The widowed queen was sitting in the corner reading a book and Asuka smiled, running to join her before she caught a glimpse of something out the window.

Getting a closer look, the little cowgirl gasped, "Mrs. Heartfilia! Mrs. Heartfilia!"

Layla looked up from her book with a smile, "what is it, Asuka?"

"Mommy and Daddy and everybody else are back!"

With a surprised gasp, Layla stood up from her seat, leaving her book abandoned and ran to the front door. She opened it quickly and found herself watching the Fairy Tail members slowly walking through the streets toward the guild hall.

When the members begun to pile in, Alzack and Bisca picked up their daughter with a smalls thanks to the queen for watching her before walking away. Layla could barely register it though, she was too busy looking at all the wounds everybody had. They all looked very tired and in need of rest.

"Lucy?" Layla looked through the crowd of wounded wizards, " _please don't tell me the worst has happened!_ " She began to worry, "Lucy?!"

She walked around before spotting blonde hair and sighing in relief that her daughter wasn't dead. However, she had her fair share of wounds. Layla was proud of her daughter: she must've fought hard. Good for her!

Layla smiled and made her way over to her before realizing her red eyes and the hot tears running down her face. Lucy was hugging Happy to her chest, who was crying as well and Layla set a hand on her shoulder, "Lucy?"

Lucy looked over at her mother, "Mom…"

"What's wro-"

Then she saw it: Porlyusica and Erza were carrying Natsu on a stretcher up the stairs to the infirmary. They went right past them, allowing Layla to get a good look at his wounds and the dagger in his chest. He was unconscious and Happy flew out of Lucy's arms onto the stretcher at the dragon slayer's side.

The queen put a hand to her mouth in horror, "Oh Lucy…"

"M-Mama…" Lucy turned to her mother as a sob escaped her mouth and they hugged tightly.

"Oh Lucy…he's gonna be okay."

Of course, neither of them knew that for certain…

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"Care to explain why you were at the Magic Council, Jellal?" Ultear demanded with her hands on her hips. Meldy stood next to her with the same confused, yet irritated look on her face. Why would Jellal turn himself in without telling them? They're in the same guild after all.

Erza turned to her right to look at him and wait for his answer. She was pretty curious as well.

"When I first heard about the war Raven Tail declared on the royal family, I knew that Ivan wasn't going to stop despite everything we'd throw at him unless the Magic Council had cut him off permanently by arresting him. So I went there and turned myself in," Jellal looked over at Ultear and Meldy. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want to drag you two into this with me. After they locked me up, I took every chance I got to tell them about Ivan's attack. At first, they didn't believe me, but then, they heard about the death of the king and that it was Ivan who killed him. I predicted that Fairy Tail would crash the wedding he and Lucy were having and that Raven Tail would appear to fight back. When it came true, they listened to what I had to say." He turned to Erza then, "I met up with Ultear and Meldy and they told me about the battle so I lead the Magic Council to the plains."

Erza nodded understandably. Jellal was the type of guy to think ahead; Erza hadn't thought about getting the Council involved. It makes sense.

"Good thinking, Jellal," she nodded her head approvingly. "I wouldn't have thought about that."

Erza thought that she might've been seeing things, because it was gone as quick as it came, but she could've sworn that he had blushed.

"Thanks," Jellal replied. "It wasn't an easy task, but it's done. The three of us should probably get going if we want to escape the Magic Council from finding us after taking care of Ivan."

Ultear and Meldy agreed and the three outcasts pulled their blue hoods over their heads. "Give my regards to Natsu," Jellal said.

Erza nodded with a smile, "he's a fighter and a survivor; he'll pull through."

With a smile, the three outcasts turned away and began to walk through the gates of Fairy Tail on the road leading out of Magnolia. However, they didn't disappear from sight without Jellal turning around to smile and wave at Erza, who gladly returned the gesture. When they were gone, Erza sighed before walking inside the guild hall.

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Lucy didn't know exactly what she was feeling; she didn't know what to call these multiple emotions. Overall, she felt overwhelming sadness that just refused to stop leaking out of her eyes. Her head was pounding because of it, but she couldn't find it in her heart to care. She couldn't see and her wounds throbbed more and more each time she moved a muscle.

She also felt broken and cut in half, like her reflection was gone and her soul had been crushed, but she was still there, living, but not really living. She felt dead, but then again, still alive. Natsu was the other half of her; he was her reflection when she looked in the mirror. Without him there, she was incomplete.

Strangely too, she felt a bit of happiness: she was finally free from Ivan. She could join Fairy Tail and live the rest of her life with them, but the happiness was short-lived and quickly added to the sadness. Yes, she was free and yes, she could join the guild now, but – and she wouldn't admit this out loud – but she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Natsu as well…and that, most likely, wasn't going to happen.

Lastly, she felt anger. She knew he was an idiot, but _jumping_ _in front of her and taking the hit_ just makes her beyond livid. To her, it wasn't necessary; he didn't need to do that. She would've been just fine! She would've rolled out of the way and let the dagger hit the ground before kicking Flare in the stomach. Now, Natsu's lying unconscious in the infirmary and it's all because of that stupid brain of his wanting to protect her! Of course, Lucy couldn't deny that she liked the fact that he was so willing to protect her, but she didn't want his protection if it was going to get him killed…which was most likely the case.

Lucy heard herself sobbing again as she set her forehead against the white sheets and curled her fingers around his.

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"This'll be hard," Porlyusica said worriedly as she went through her medical supplies, pulling out a tool before shaking her head and setting it down. She just couldn't find the right one to be able to properly pull the dagger out without wounding Natsu even more. She'd have to be quick too because after the dagger is out, they'll have to stop the bleeding before it kills him. "I thought I had the right tool for this, but I haven't operated on a wound like this in a long time so I had probably sold it for other supplies." She hadn't said anything about this earlier because she didn't want to tell Lucy the news she knew the blonde didn't want to hear, but she and Happy were asleep at the dragon slayer's side and it was very late at night.

Layla bit her lip, " _I would rather take a dagger to the heart for her than watch her die._ " She believed him; she believed that Lucy was going to be safe when he was around and she believed that he would do anything he could to protect her…but to learn that he _actually_ took a dagger to the heart for her daughter surprised her greatly. He had risked his life for her, and as Lucy's mother, she wasn't going to let that go.

Layla was determined to save Natsu's life…

"Wendy's healing magic could work. I saw her healing some members' wounds. She could heal Natsu's."

Porlyusica shook her head. "On the battlefield, I stopped her from healing him. If she continued, the skin around the dagger would heal around it and trap the knife within him."

"Okay then," Layla racked her brain for more solutions, "what if you _pull_ the dagger out and _then_ she heals it? That way, the dagger would be gone."

She shook her head again, "that wouldn't work either. Wendy's healing power is great; however, it's too slow. It takes time to heal a wound especially one this big. Natsu would lose way too much blood to survive if we head down that road."

Layla sighed, frustrated.

"Queen Layla?"

The widowed queen turned to the elderly, pink haired woman.

"I don't think I can save him…"

The blonde sucked in a silent breath before turning to look at her daughter.

Lucy was asleep, but still crying. The tears dripped down her pale cheeks causing the Band-Aid that was on her cheekbone to get soaked. Lucy unconsciously gripped Natsu's hand harder causing Layla's eyes to drift down to their interlocked hands.

She knew what it was like to lose your significant other…Layla did _not_ want her daughter to go through that pain…

"How much?" Layla asked, turning to Porlyusica. "How much are the tools that'll properly get the dagger out?"

"Very expensive: 7,350,000J…I don't have that kind of money-"

"I'll pay for it," Layla interrupted. "I'll pay double if that's what it takes."

"But You're Majesty-"

"It's okay, Porlyusica," she smiled. "I'm a queen. I have that kind of money. I don't mind."

Porlyusica grew silent and then nodded, "okay. We'll go buy the tools in the morning."

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A week later, Natsu found himself opening his eyes…

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 **I hope you all enjoyed that little cliffhanger there 0:) I'm kidding…lol. I'll write the next one quickly. I think I have about one chapter left and then the Epilogue.**

 **-zEllie**


	36. Chapter 36

**Last chapter! Oh my gosh! I'm crying! It's been, what, half a year since I started this? My very first story is coming to an end! I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Ch. 36)

It took Natsu a few moments to realize where he was at. When he did, he felt pain around his middle. Flinching as he sat up to look down at the bandages wrapped around him, he remembered what had happened and gasped.

"W-what?! I-I-"

"Ssh! You'll wake Lucy!" Someone hissed and he jerked his head to the side to see Layla.

"L-Layla!" He exclaimed – this time quietly – and then turned to the other side of him to see Lucy.

She had her head against his forearm and her hand tightly in his. Lucy's blonde hair flowed out beautifully around her and glowed a beautiful gold as the sun shone through the window onto her. Natsu smiled at the scene as he took his other hand and ran his fingers through her hair. Lucy hummed in her sleep at the feel and Natsu chuckled…It was a sight he thought he'd never see again.

Speaking of which…

Natsu turned back, with a confused look, to Layla, who was smiling. "I thought I was dead…H-how am I still alive?"

"You're lucky you are. Miss Porlyusica, at the time, didn't have the right tools to save you," Layla sat down on the edge of one of the beds on the other side of Natsu. "However, when we looked, we were able to find the right medical supplies in time. After the dagger was out and the bleeding stopped, Wendy was able to heal you up. You've been asleep for a week."

"Ivan," Natsu suddenly said. "What happened to Ivan? Where is he?"

"He's been arrested by the Magic Council," Layla smiled. "There's no need to worry, Natsu. We won the war. The only thing anybody's been worried about is whether or not, you'll live."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to worry anybody."

She giggled, "its okay. You're alive and that's what matters."

There was a small silence as Natsu continued to run his fingers through Lucy's soft hair with a smile on his face before Layla spoke again:

"I heard about what you did."

He turned back to her again, "huh?"

"I'm talking about jumping in front of my daughter to protect her," the widowed queen gave him a wide, sincere smile. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"It's no big deal, Layla. I would've done it with or without my promise to you."

"I know, but it still means a great deal to me."

Another small silence past before Natsu spoke again, "you should've seen her. She was amazing. She used a spell I've never seen before…and she took down a powerful foe."

"I heard all about it from Happy. She used Urano Metria; it's an ability type spell for Celestial Wizards. It's pretty advanced. I'm proud of her."

"I am too."

Lucy moaned and stirred in her sleep, drawing Natsu and Layla's attention to her.

"It looks like she's about to wake up," Layla commented, standing up and walking to the door. "I'll go tell the others that you're awake and doing okay, but I'll keep them out of here so you two can have some privacy."

"Alright, see you later, Layla."

Layla smiled one last time before waving and shutting the door on the way out.

Natsu then turned his attention back to the blonde who stirred even more. "Luce?"

"N-Natsu…" She snuggled against his forearm before flickering her eyes open and shutting them while moaning because of the light.

Natsu chuckled as he moved some of her blonde hair out of her face, "good morning, Lucy."

Lucy turned her head to look at him with a soft smile, "good morning, Natsu…wait," her eyes widened as she sat up quickly, "N-Natsu?!"

He flashed the goofy grin Lucy thought she'd never see again. "Yo Luce! It's good to see you!"

Lucy gritted her teeth as tears flooded her eyes. She looked away as a sob escaped her mouth, but before Natsu could comfort her, she spoke first, "N-Natsu…you…you _idiot!_ "

Receiving a slap to the cheek, Natsu's eyes widened in surprise, "Owwwww….Luce-"

"You idiot!" She repeated, standing up now and towering over him. There were tears spilling down her cheeks. "How could you do that to me?!"

"I was protecting you," Natsu quickly argued back.

"I don't want your protection if it's going to kill you!"

At first, he thought he heard her wrong, but then it sunk in. With a low growl, he grabbed her by the forearms, pulling her to him. Lucy squealed in surprise and fought him at first, but ended up letting him pull her onto him where she was straddling his hips. They were so close, their noses were nearly touching and Lucy couldn't tear her red, teary eyes away from his angry ones.

"I am a dragon slayer," Natsu spoke sternly. "Fire doesn't work on me. In my lifetime, I've gone up against iron, lightning, poison dragon slayer magic; I've overcome wind and ice magic. I've taken guys down that were double my size. I even defeated a god slayer that used the same element as I do. You can't kill me as easily as you think and even if you could, I'm not leaving you or Fairy Tail anytime soon."

In the silence, Lucy still couldn't manage to look away as his words sunk in. She couldn't speak at first because her mouth was dry as it hung open in surprise. However, she was able to manage a quiet whisper: "I-I didn't know…"

"Well, now you do," he replied with his eyes still stern. It seemed like they bored into her fragile soul.

"I-I…" She finally ripped her eyes away and looked at the floor as her voice broke and more tears began to roll again, "I _really_ thought you were going to die…"

That was when Natsu's eyes softened, "Lucy…" releasing his hold on her forearms, he slid his hands up her neck into her hair behind her ears, redirecting her eyes back to his before planting his lips onto hers.

Lucy melted immediately as she wrapped her arms around his neck. As Natsu wiped her tears away with his thumbs, she smiled against him in bliss. She didn't think she would be able to kiss him like this again and she loves the way his scorching lips would take hers over. She never got tired of it each time they kissed.

They parted after a few kisses and stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Natsu broke the silence:

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" He threw his head back in pain, "I can't take it anymore! Get off me! It hurts!"

"You idiot!" Lucy exclaimed, not moving, "you're the one who pulled me onto you!"

"Lucy, it hurts _really_ badly! You're so heavy! Please get off!"

"Hey! I'm not heavy!" She slapped him again, earning another "ow" before climbing off of him.

Natsu gasped dramatically for breath when Lucy stood up. "Phew! Just lost a hundred-fifty pounds…"

"Are you kidding me?! Do I look like I'm a hundred and fifty?!"

He glanced at her before rubbing his bandaged stomach to soothe the pain, "I'm sorry, I mean two hundred."

"THAT'S NOT EVEN CLOSE!"

He blinked blankly, "…two-fifty?"

"OH MY GOSH! JUST SHUT UP, NATSU!"

He laughed at her pouting face, "I'm just messing with you, Luce!" He laughed again –this time louder – before adding under his breath, "It is so much fun irritating you."

"Wow, I'm so glad you find pleasure in that," she pouted again before turning to walk away, but she didn't get very far when two toned arms wrapped around her waist.

"And where do you think you're going?" Natsu asked as he nuzzled his face against her back.

"To get Porlyusica and Wendy," she stated like it was obvious, which it was.

"No way!" He pulled her onto the bed again, earning a squeal in surprise from the blonde. "You're staying here!"

"You didn't learn your lesson the first time?!" She exclaimed as she felt her back hit his bandaged chest.

"Whoever said you were sitting on me again, Weirdo?"

She shivered at his voice in her ear before she felt herself hit the covers and the blankets lazily thrown over her. Natsu snuggled against her back, humming contently and Lucy found herself smiling.

"Oh and by the way, fifty-seven."

She raised an eyebrow as she turned around to face him, "what?"

"Fifty-seven," he said as he snuggled into her neck and planted a few kisses on her skin, secretly loving the way she shivered when he did so. "That's the final count of all the ravens I took down."

"O-oh," she giggled, "including Flare, I got forty-three…great job, you beat me."

"You know what? I change my mind: Flare's worth thirty points, not twenty."

"You still beat me."

"I say you win."

"And why is that?" Lucy giggled as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Because you were _amazing_ when you were fighting Flare! I knew you were strong, but… _dang!_ "

She giggled again.

"I'm proud of you, Lucy."

Lucy smiled brightly before hugging him, "thank you, Natsu."

As Natsu found himself drifting off, he heard the three words he loved to hear come from her mouth:

"I love you."

And before he faded from reality into dreamland, he was able to reply:

"…I…love you…too…"

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 **Well there you go. That was the last chapter. Of course, I still have the epilogue to do. That'll probably be up tomorrow or the next day. After that, I'll give you an update on what I'll be doing next. I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-zEllie**


	37. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Epilogue)

"YEAH! LET'S PAR-TY!" Natsu exclaimed as he jumped around in joy. Fairy Tail was in the midst of celebrating their victory. Everyone was shouting in joy, drinking, and brawling as was the norm of Fairy Tail after a victorious battle.

"Be careful, Natsu, you're still injured!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Yeah, Flame Brain, take it easy!"

Natsu was in his usual clothes again and out of the infirmary. All the bandages covering his wounds were gone except for the one around his chest where the dagger was at.

"I'm fine!" Natsu groaned in annoyance. "It's just a scratch!"

Gray smirked, "sure. I bet you won't last more than a few seconds in a fight!"

"Oh yeah?! Wanna test that theory, Snowflake?!"

So began another brawl, but this one ended quickly when Gray socked Natsu in the gut and he yelped in pain.

"I warned him…" Wendy sighed.

"They are a rowdy bunch, aren't they?" Layla appeared next to her.

"Oh! You're Majesty!" Wendy bowed respectfully.

Layla giggled at her formality as Wendy blushed nervously. "You're still here?" Carla, in her arms, asked, "I thought you had gone back to Crocus?"

"I'll be going back tomorrow to clean the mess Ivan had made. It's too late at night for me to leave now."

"Will Lucy and Levy be going with you?" Wendy's face became disappointed.

"No," the widowed queen shook her head. "She and Levy will be staying here for a while. However, I will need them to come back eventually."

"But I thought Lucy and Levy were going to become members of Fairy Tail?" Wendy raised an eyebrow.

Layla then mimicked her by raising her eyebrow as well, "who told you that?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Owwww…" Natsu groaned, walking out of the crazy, partying room into the more peaceful area. "Dang Ice Princess!" He mumbled while rubbing his gut before looking up. He gasped, "WHAT THE HECK?!"

There stood Gajeel and Levy, making out in a corner.

"AH! NATSU!" Levy exclaimed, pushing the iron dragon slayer away in embarrassment with a red face.

"WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?!" Natsu shouted.

"Gihi! Hey Salamander," Gajeel said. "I bet I could make out with my girl longer than you could with yours."

"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM, GAJEEL!"

Natsu smirked, "challenge accepted, Metal Face."

"WHY WOULD THIS BE A COMPETITION?!"

"Lucy, come here," Natsu turned around when she didn't answer. "Luce?"

"She didn't come in with you, Idiot!" Gajeel said.

"Actually, I haven't seen her all night," Levy commented.

"What?" Natsu raised his eyebrow worriedly before turning around and running out the door, "I'm going to look for her."

"Don't forget to bring her back here so I could show you how better I am at this!" Gajeel shouted after him.

"GAJEEL!"

Natsu ran through the hall and into another room. "Lucy?!" He ran his fingers through his hair, " _don't tell me she's been kidnapped._ " His muscles tensed in realization and a bit of anger before turning around to run into a different room.

Then it hit him: Vanilla, mixed with rose, with a hint of coconut.

He stopped in his tracks and turned around at his favorite scent: Lucy's. Like a dog being called by his master, Natsu followed his nose up the stairs and outside onto a balcony where she was.

It was dark out and the stars shown overhead, but they were faint thanks to the city lights that Magnolia produced. Lucy was leaning against the stone balcony fence looking at the view and it seemed she didn't notice him.

Natsu appeared next to her, leaning against the fence as well with their arms touching. Lucy turned to him before smiling and looking back at the city. "Hey."  
"Hey," he replied. "What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing…just thinking and getting away from the noise."

"What are you thinking about?"

Lucy hummed, but didn't answer, causing Natsu to move closer to gain more of her attention. "Lucy, what's wrong?"

Lucy sighed, "it's nothing really…I just…I really wanna join the guild."

"What are you talking about?" Natsu raised an eyebrow as he unconsciously ran his fingers through her hair. "You're a member now."

"I don't have the mark yet."

"Let's go get it then."

"No, you don't understand." Lucy sighed again, "the war is over…but that doesn't change anything." She turned to him, "I'm still a princess…I still have duties and I can't join Fairy Tail. I'm really happy Ivan's gone, but I'm still who I am. I'm never going to be completely free-"

"Don't say that," Natsu took her shoulders and turned her to face him completely. "There's gotta be a way. You can't just give up like that."

"I'm sorry," she turned away. "I can't help it."

"Don't lose hope. You're Lucy of Fairy Tail."

"I want to be that person…but I can't."

"Then I'll make it a 'can'."

"Natsu-"

"I love you, Lucy," he caressed her cheeks, causing her to look at him again. "I want you to be apart of this family, officially. Everyone here does. We'll figure out a way."

"A way for me not to be a princess anymore?" She raised her eyebrows, not believing him.

"If that's what it takes."

"I…have a hard time believing."

"You believe in me, don't you?" With one hand still on her cheek, he took her hand in his and set it on his beating heart, soothing her thoughts.

"Of course I do," Lucy replied.

"Then you'll join the guild; I'll make sure of it. Maybe you won't join tomorrow or the next day, but one day, you won't be a princess anymore and you'll be a Fairy Tail Wizard."

Lucy was silent for a moment, then smiled, "alright, I'll hold you to that promise."

"Don't you dare let me forget," Natsu pulled her in for a hug, "which I won't."

"Don't worry, I won't let you…and I love you too, Natsu."

Hooking a finger under her chin, Natsu kissed her shamelessly.

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 **I'm crying right now…it's the very end of my story…*sniff* However, I'm very excited to work on my next projects. I give this project a…maybe a B+? I don't know. I hope you enjoyed the entire story and thank you all so much for reading.**

 **-zEllie**


	38. Acknowledgments

Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses (Acknowledgments)

I dedicated this story, first of all, to my Heavenly Father who had given the RFDP idea to me in the first place. I wouldn't have made very far without Him. Thank you. Second, this was for my mom and dad, who are my best friends and supported me and my crazy idiotic brothers who I can't help but love anyway. I have to say, this was also for my dog who's been in my life since I was born and is like a sister to me. Even though she's slowly passing away now, she'll always be in my heart. I love you Dolly.

And of course, I can't forget my wonderful followers! Thank you all so _so_ much for all the support! It means so much to me! If you stuck with me from the beginning to the end, started with me and then left, or simply glanced at this story before leaving, thank you all so much for reading!

 _17moralesk, ADSreader, Acnologia01, AdorkableWitch1, AllenWalkerXTrainHeartnet, Animefan5827, AnnaYasahii, Aoifan91, Ayla Spica, Bostontex24, Carebear90, Circus Monster 2002, Cotton0Candy, CutiePieNia, Daniyia87, DashiePokestar, DeathAssassinFaerie, Demonleonhart, 31, DramaQueenBree, ElementalF1re, Fairytail8753, Fanficxxlover, FaolenBookWolf, FireShifter, Freki02, Gayres0918, GratsuFanatic, GreenTeaZee, Haruka Shinonono, InnerJFire, Iralu, Jawlien, Johnny Spectre, JoyJoy Pinky, JuanDayWeWillBeTogether, Justabigshipper21, Kingofthecabbage, KtKatana, L337, LITTLEMIZZPAIN, LKFairy4416, LRCN, , Lizz Cold 790, MAIDENCHINA23, Mechanical-Rose-Sama, Micchie, Midnightpaws12, Mike Uzumaki-Heartfilia, Someone's Bastard, MirrorEyes1, Moon Stone Tiger Lily, MusicaNote, NaLuAllTheWay, Nalu is life31, Nasha Dragneel, Nashi Heartfilia-Dragneel, Popsoda221, PrettyPrincess1616, PuppyLoveCharm, Purebred-Heart, Rachel Maddison, RockStarAnimeLover, Rosey-Chan, Rosane'sworld2020, Saira-Blue, SasukeX630, Shadowhunterchronicleslover13, Shunakoo25, SonOfNeptune86, Soulridermpk, Taiski, Terriexghost hunt1353, The Black Fairy of Fairy Tail, TheElatedDeity, TokyoTeddiWolf, Tony2996, Trashly, Triggered-NaLu-Potato, Trinitor, Tsukki086, UnlimitedMagic, WinterKit18, Xiuwen, XxMysteryNobodyxX, Xzaria592, Zahia ouzidane, akozak, alexandriathecat, angelreadsfics, arcadea333, booklover551, bored-outa-my-mind97, chill7892, cskov25, cutezyeyes13, demongurl111, electrogirl88, emmibearnac, fandomtrash3, fanficfanaticxoxo, hananodoku, hanbei23, kat299, kingmeh8, kiteou-kun, manga4eva, monstergal31, nalulover100, naluutrash, niapeace55, nickyzas, peacerockgirl123, prussialiveson, raind2000, rayeluna, roseprincess962, sarara1.8, shamwoohoo52, , slimzgurl, soapywaters13, thebooknerdgeek, toshiro and sakura 4 ever, trashforeternity, vnhotti, xIchimatsux, xXLunarRayneXx, yumerikka, zzMiya-chanzz, JuraJaws10979, AnimeaMari, ninasaoy, SSen1, JefftheSk8er, SmallFryArtist, lucyisboss, bluewolf4444, monsosar, AngryBudah, TaylorNicoleReed, eftyhia71, Dancingqueenk, HeyItsStarryYT, Qwertytop777, Upgradermunchkin, Jhavi6, RoseTylerTheDoctor, scorpio—princess, Inferno-The-Dragon, Blue Star, Advanceshipping4ever, YummyCookieArt…_

I'm sure that I missed a few, but thank you to all who favorited RFDP. It means more to me than you know. :'D

Now, the question you all have been wondering….

 **Is there going to be a sequel?**

The answer is, yes. There will most definitely be a sequel. However, I'm not writing it at the moment.

 **If I'm not writing the sequel right now, then what's next?**

Well, first off, I need to finish "Lucy Heartfilia: FanFiction Author". I posted that in the middle of RFDP, but didn't finish it because I didn't know how long it was going to be so I waited until this is over. After that, I have some requests I have to do. "Red Riding Hood" was requested by my dear friend, AnimeaMari, and will be up soon (I'm so sorry, girlfriend! I totally forgot!). And my brother, YummyCookieArt, requested the story "If I Make It…" which I'm half way through. So stay tuned for those!

When that is all done, my next project will be "Eruption" and then after that will be "Tree house", "Beauty and the Beast", and quite possibly "Prisoners of War". Yes, I'm going to do two (possibly three) series at once. At first, I only wanted to do one series at a time so I won't rush myself and have such a burden, but I realized that with all these ideas in my head, I will never have enough days in my lifetime to write them all down one by one, especially since RFDP took about half a year. So I decided to do two at once instead.

 **Eruption:**

Yes, I'm aware "Eruption" is being worked on alone, but that's only because this will have less than ten chapters and shouldn't take very long to finish. I might even start writing this while I'm finishing "Lucy Heartfilia: FanFiction Author" and the other requests.

Summary: Whenever there's a threat, Fairy Tail is always on their enemy's heels, chasing them back. They are always confident that they'd win and they never back down. However, they can't fight this new threat, and they're only chance of survival is to run.

BTW, THIS SERIES CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE LUMEN HISTORIE/FAIRY HEART.

This is NaLu obviously and the beginning is GaLe. I won't spoil who the enemy is, but basically Lucy gets separated with the rest of Fairy Tail and she thinks they're all dead and Natsu and the others think that _maybe_ Lucy is dead, but they're searching for her anyway. I won't go any farther than that.

 **Tree house:**

I've had this planned for quite some time now and I promised my fan, Blue Star, that I'll start this after RFDP. I don't really know how long this'll be, but this'll be written at the same time as "Beauty and the Beast". This'll actually most likely get done first the reason why is further down, but if this gets finished before "Beauty and the Beast", I won't start another one until both series are finished.

Summary: A tree house for children in the middle of the small patch of woods in the neighborhood was their secret getaway. It was there that they met, and it was there that their love story started.

Mainly NaLu with other ships on the side. Basically, Lucy's the rich girl in the neighborhood, but the most avoidable and infamous person in Magnolia. Natsu avoided her too, but found her nice when he met her in the tree house. Btw, Natsu's parents are Igneel and Grandine and his sister is Wendy. Happy and Carla are their cats. I just wanted Natsu and Wendy to be brother and sister because they're one of my favorite bromances. :D

 **Beauty and the Beast:**

I was really debating with myself on whether or not I wanted to write this because I thought this would be a great original fiction that I could publish as a novel, but I originally got the idea for it being a FanFiction about Natsu and Lucy. After going back and forth and talking to my brother, YummyCookieArt, about it, I decided to do both fiction _and_ FanFiction. He was really looking forward to this (probably because I read all my notes about it to him out loud so he knows just about everything that'll happen). This story is pretty cool, it's obviously a rewritten version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, except the plot is different. This will probably take longer than "Tree house" because on the side (which btw, I won't be posting the original fiction), I'm writing the original fiction and I want to keep the FanFiction and the original at the same pace. I've already written the prologue and I'm in the middle of the first chapter of the original, but I want to be in the same place in both stories. One chapter of the original, one chapter of the FanFiction, that's why it'll take longer. The original will be a little different than the FanFiction, especially the falling action, but all-in-all, it's the same story with different characters.

Summary: "Don't go into the forest," Levy says, "it's dangerous. Anyone who goes in there, never comes back out." Ridden with curiosity, Lucy goes into Graveyard, the forest, anyway and finds something she never expected.

NaLu (or in other words, END + Lucy, but that's the same thing as NaLu). Fairy Tail is an orphanage and Lucy is the newest member after being found on the dirty street by my Mira and Master Makarov. After fitting in very well, Lucy points out the large forest just south of Magnolia and you could see it from the orphanage, but Levy says not to go in there. Lucy goes in anyway and meets END.

 **Prisoners of War:**

This is a crossover between Fairy Tail and my second favorite anime, Sword Art Online. Like I said before, I decided to do two series at once instead of one, and I know this is number three. The reason is because this is going to be _very_ long, like, sixty chapters long. This'll most likely still be going when "Tree house" and "Beauty and the Beast" are finished. This'll probably still be going when I finished the _next_ two series I have planned. However, I don't know exactly know when I'm starting this; I wanna finish up the notes I'm writing for this. I usually outline the whole story before I start it, and I'm in the middle of this one. I might do it, depending on how many of you like Sword Art Online. If you do and want me to continue this, let me know :)

Summary: "We were never soldiers," Natsu remembers Lucy saying before right she was killed in front of him. "We were prisoners. You kidnapped us, Akihiko, and whether or not you like it, we will never ever work for you." With Natsu and co trapped in the floating castle of Aincrad, down below in Fiore, Kirito does what he thinks is necessary for surviving this blasted war. Keeping a necessary distance from Asuna is the hardest to do even though all he wants to do is hold her tight to him.

NaLu and Kirisuna mainly, but other couples on the side. In Fiore, there are three major camping sites, each one with a leader, for fighters who rebelled against Akihiko Kayaba who has most, if not all of the control over Fiore. Floating about a thousand feet from the ground for anybody's view, Aincrad, where Akihiko resides while training his army, there is a small group of rebels in the floating castle who want nothing more than to escape, but it's hard, especially when one of them standing against Akihiko, leading him to kill one them.

Btw, I should tell you, Kirito and Natsu are going to become good friends! So are Asuna and Lucy! And Wendy and Yui! Lol! I thought you should know that!

 **Well, there's the next stories. I hope you guys enjoy them and thank you all again so much for reading RFDP. *hugs***


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